Queen Elizabeth's School in Barnet is rated Exceptional, Ofsted's new top grade, in all seven areas of its first report card. What inspectors found, and the full report.

Queen Elizabeth’s School in Barnet has been rated Exceptional in every one of the seven areas Ofsted now grades. Exceptional is the top grade under the inspectorate’s new report cards.

Inspectors visited the boys’ grammar school on Queen’s Road on 21 April 2026. Ofsted’s page for the school lists the report as published on 28 September. The school announced it on 21 September.

The seven grades

Area Grade
Inclusion Exceptional
Curriculum and teaching Exceptional
Achievement Exceptional
Attendance and behaviour Exceptional
Personal development and wellbeing Exceptional
Leadership and governance Exceptional
Post-16 provision Exceptional

Safeguarding standards are met. That is the only other judgement on the card, and the alternative is “not met”.

Ofsted defines Exceptional as practice “of the highest standard nationally”, from which “other schools can learn”. The grades below it are strong standard, expected standard, needs attention and urgent improvement.

What inspectors found

On results, the report says pupils’ achievements at GCSE and A level “have been among the very highest nationally for several years”. It notes that pupils are “very able when they enter in Year 7”. The school then “accelerates their progress”, inspectors write.

Inspectors also looked hard at the pupils most likely to fall behind. They found that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) achieve outcomes “absolutely in line with all other pupils in the school”. The pupil premium money for disadvantaged pupils is “skilfully used”, they say.

Other findings from the report:

  • Attendance is “extremely high”, including for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, and has improved over the last three years.
  • Behaviour is “exemplary”, and bullying is “extremely uncommon”.
  • Every pupil plays in competitive sports fixtures, whatever their ability. Options include water polo, fencing and Eton fives.
  • Careers advice is “extremely thorough”, with support for applications to “some of the most competitive universities in the country”.
  • The sixth form: “Achievement at post-16 is extraordinary,” the report says.

The report contains no list of things for the school to improve. On leadership, it says leaders “are absolutely relentless in identifying any small areas in the school that can be improved”.

The school

Queen Elizabeth’s School is an academy for boys aged 11 to 18. Ofsted records 1,321 pupils against a capacity of 1,200. Places in Year 7 are allocated through an entrance test.

The school’s previous inspection was in May 2022. The school says it is the current holder of The Sunday Times’ State Secondary School of the Year award.

Headmaster Neil Enright said the report was “testament to the dedication and expertise of my colleagues”. He also credited “the hard work and free-thinking scholarship of the boys, and the constant support of the whole Elizabethan community, including parents, governors and alumni”.

The school has a planning application in with the council for a new sports hall. We covered it in September: Queen Elizabeth’s School sports hall application.

What it means for you

If you are a parent weighing up secondary schools, the full report card is free to read on Ofsted’s website. Each grade comes with a few paragraphs explaining it, which tells you far more than the headline.

Report cards are new, and many Barnet schools still carry an older single-word judgement from before the change. Compare like with like, and check the inspection date on each.

The borough’s results as a whole were also published this week. Our report on Barnet’s GCSE and A-level results has the figures.