Islington publishes the distance of the last child admitted to each of its primary schools, and for the most popular ones that distance is under a third of a mile. This guide sets out the best primary schools in Islington, the September 2025 cut-offs from the council's own directory, and the streets in Highbury, Barnsbury, Canonbury and Holloway that sit inside them.

Period houses typical of Islington, N1 and N7, where families buy near Thornhill, William Tyndale and Canonbury primary schools — Islington publishes the last distance admitted for every one of its primary schools.

Islington has no primary school catchment areas. Places at its community schools go to the children who live closest, measured in a straight line from the home address to the midpoint of the school grounds, after looked-after children, siblings and exceptional need. The council states in its 2025-26 admissions booklet that 95% of its primary schools are judged good or outstanding. For September 2025 entry, the last pupil admitted to William Tyndale on distance lived 0.291 miles away, and to Yerbury 0.277 miles, according to the council's Find Your Islington directory.

Reece Kendall-Georgiou, our Senior Lettings Negotiator, has lived in Islington all his life and has advised families moving here since 2018. The ten primary schools below are the ones that come up most in conversations with buyers and tenants who have a child under five.

Key points: schools in Islington in 2026

95% of Islington primary schools are judged good or outstanding, according to Islington Council. Note that Ofsted no longer uses those words for inspections since November 2025; see below.
No catchment areas. Community schools allocate by straight-line distance to the midpoint of the school grounds after priority groups. Academies and church schools set their own criteria.
The tightest cut-offs in September 2025 were Yerbury at 0.277 miles, William Tyndale at 0.291, Drayton Park at 0.345 and Thornhill at 0.364, per Find Your Islington.
The average Islington house price was £673,000 in June 2026 (provisional), with flats averaging £560,000 and terraced houses £1,142,000, according to the ONS and HM Land Registry.
Applications for September 2027 close on 15 January 2027, with offers on 16 April 2027. Your address on the closing date decides the distance.
Secondary places follow a separate cycle. Year 7 applications for September 2027 close on 31 October 2026. Highbury Fields, the two City of London Academies and Beacon High are the borough's main options.

Is Islington a good place to buy a home with a family?

Yes, if the budget stretches to it: Islington combines primary schools that Camden and Islington report as good or outstanding, secondary options within walking distance, zone 2 transport and real green space, which is a combination few parts of London offer in one postcode. The trade-off is price. The June 2026 borough average was £673,000 in Islington against £554,000 for London as a whole, according to the ONS, and the streets nearest the most oversubscribed schools sit above the borough figure. Islington's edge is transport: four tube and rail lines mean a family can reach the City, the West End and King's Cross without a change, which widens the school search rather than narrowing it.

For a family deciding where in London to buy, the practical test is this: can you afford a home inside the cut-off distance of a primary school you like, within walking distance of a secondary you would accept, on a street you would still want to live on once the children have left? Islington passes that test more often than most inner-London areas, and the sections below show exactly which streets.

Why do families move to Islington for the schools?

Families move here for Georgian and Victorian squares, some of the best-connected transport in north London and a set of primary schools with reputations that reach well beyond the borough. Highbury & Islington has the Victoria line, the Overground and Great Northern trains; Caledonian Road, Holloway Road and Arsenal are on the Piccadilly line; Angel is on the Northern line. Highbury Fields, Caledonian Park and the Regent's Canal towpath give families green space without leaving zone 2.

The trade-off is that the most popular schools sit in the most expensive squares, and the cut-offs are short. Islington's booklet is explicit that distances vary from year to year and are given only as a guide.

How does Islington decide who gets a primary school place?

For community schools, Islington offers places after EHC plans in priority order, with distance as the deciding criterion for most applicants and as the tie-breaker within earlier criteria. Distance is measured on the council's computerised mapping system in a straight line from the home address, as defined by the Land and Property Gazetteer, to the midpoint of the school grounds. Where two children are equidistant and one place remains, the council uses random allocation.

Academies such as William Tyndale and Hungerford, and voluntary aided church schools, set their own admissions criteria but take applications through the same co-ordinated scheme. You apply once, naming up to six schools in any borough, at eadmissions.org.uk. Islington provides a home-to-school distance calculator on each school's directory page.

Top 10 primary schools in Islington to buy or rent near: the ranking

How this ranking works: Islington reports 95% of its primaries as good or outstanding, so the grade does not separate them. Schools are ranked by how close you had to live to get in for September 2025, from the council's own directory: the shorter the distance, the more oversubscribed the school. Where the directory published no figure, the school sits at the end of the list, not because it is weaker but because there is no data to rank it on.

Yerbury: last distance admitted 0.277 miles. The most oversubscribed by this measure.
William Tyndale (academy): 0.291 miles.
Drayton Park: 0.345 miles.
Thornhill: 0.364 miles, with 60 places.
Canonbury: 0.560 miles.
Ashmount: 1.284 miles.
Hungerford (academy): every distance applicant admitted.
Gillespie: no 2025 cut-off published.
Highbury Quadrant: no 2025 cut-off published.
Hanover: no 2025 cut-off published.

The best primary schools in Islington to buy or rent near: September 2025 admissions data

Cut-off figures are the "last pupil admitted under distance criterion in September 2025" published on each school's Find Your Islington entry. Distances are straight-line miles to the midpoint of the school grounds. "Not published" means the entry did not state a figure when checked on 5 September 2026; use the directory's calculator for the current position.

Rank	School	Type	Reception places	Applications 2025	Furthest child offered 2025
1	Yerbury	Community	see directory	not published	0.277 miles
2	William Tyndale	Academy	see directory	not published	0.291 miles
3	Drayton Park	Community	see directory	not published	0.345 miles
4	Thornhill	Community	60	not published	0.364 miles
5	Canonbury	Community	see directory	not published	0.560 miles
6	Ashmount	Community	see directory	not published	1.284 miles
7	Hungerford	Academy	30	not published	all distance applicants admitted
8	Gillespie	Community	see directory	not published	not published
9	Highbury Quadrant	Community	see directory	not published	not published
10	Hanover	Community	see directory	not published	not published

Source: Islington Council, Find Your Islington, individual school entries, "last pupil admitted under distance criterion in September 2025", accessed 5 September 2026.

1. Yerbury Primary School, Foxham Road N19 4RR

Best for: the Tufnell Park end of the borough.

Yerbury is the north-western anchor of Islington's primary schools, on the Tufnell Park and Upper Holloway border. The September 2025 cut-off of 0.277 miles is the tightest in this guide and covers Foxham Road, Yerbury Road, Corinne Road, Hugo Road and Dalmeny Road, a grid of Victorian terraces with unusually large gardens for zone 2. Our separate guide to buying in Tufnell Park covers these streets in detail.

2. William Tyndale Primary School, Sable Street N1 2NN

Best for: the streets between Upper Street and Canonbury Square.

William Tyndale is an academy just behind Upper Street and is the school most closely associated with central Islington. Its September 2025 cut-off of 0.291 miles takes in Sable Street, Cross Street, Halton Road, Florence Street and the Canonbury Square end of Canonbury Road. The school is fully accessible with lifts and ramps, runs a breakfast club from 8am and after-school care to 6pm, and holds regular tours. As an academy it sets its own criteria, so read them on the school's site. The latest inspection is on the Ofsted reports site, and the current cut-off is on its Find Your Islington entry. Many of the best streets to buy in Islington sit inside this circle.

3. Drayton Park Primary School, Arvon Road N5 1PJ

Best for: Highbury west of Holloway Road.

Drayton Park is a community school between Highbury Fields and Drayton Park station. Its September 2025 cut-off of 0.345 miles takes in Arvon Road, Liberia Road, Baalbec Road, Drayton Park and the western end of Highbury Grove. It holds Healthy Schools London awards, including a gold award for physical activity in June 2026, according to its directory entry. Drayton Park station gives a direct Great Northern service to Moorgate, which matters for parents working in the City.

4. Thornhill Primary School, Thornhill Road N1 1HX

Best for: Barnsbury's squares.

Thornhill is a two-form-entry community school with 60 reception places in the heart of Barnsbury. The last pupil admitted on distance for September 2025 lived 0.364 miles away, which covers Thornhill Road, Thornhill Square, Richmond Avenue, Lonsdale Square, Barnsbury Street and the Hemingford Road grid. This is some of the finest early Victorian housing in Islington, and Thornhill is a large part of why it holds its value. Breakfast club from 8am, after-school club to 6pm. If Barnsbury is the plan, search houses for sale in Islington with the 0.364-mile circle drawn first.

5. Canonbury Primary School, Canonbury Road N1 2UT

Best for: the Canonbury Road and Alwyne Road side, with a more generous reach.

Canonbury's September 2025 cut-off was 0.560 miles, the widest of the central Islington schools in this guide, taking in Canonbury Road, Alwyne Road, Willow Bridge Road, Compton Road and the New River Walk streets. It is a community school with a soft-start morning from 8.45am. For a family who wants Canonbury but has been priced out of the square itself, the eastern half of this radius, towards Essex Road and the canal, is where Rochester Place tends to find value.

6. Ashmount Primary School, Crouch Hill N4 4LR

Best for: buyers at the Crouch Hill and Stroud Green end who want reach rather than a race.

Ashmount sits on Crouch Hill on the Islington and Haringey border, in a modern building beside Crouch Hill Park. Its September 2025 cut-off of 1.284 miles is the widest in this guide by a distance, which makes it the school with the most forgiving geography for a buyer. Crouch Hill, Stapleton Hall Road, Mount View Road and the Stroud Green streets south of Crouch End are in comfortable reach. The school holds tours on the first and last Thursday of each month.

7. Hungerford Primary School, Hungerford Road N7 9LF

Best for: the Hillmarton conservation area and the least competitive strong option.

Hungerford is an academy with 30 reception places, a free breakfast club from 8am and free after-school care to 6pm. For September 2025, Islington's directory records that the distance criterion did not apply, meaning every applicant who reached that stage was admitted. Hungerford Road, Hillmarton Road, Freegrove Road, Cardozo Road, Lowther Road and Hartham Road are the streets around it, an area of substantial mid-Victorian villas between Camden Road and Caledonian Road where Rochester Place has sold and let for years. If you want a strong school without a bidding war for the nearest house, start here. See flats to rent in Islington for the rental side of this pocket.

8. Gillespie Primary School, Gillespie Road N5 1LH

Best for: the Arsenal and Highbury Hill streets.

Gillespie is a small community school opposite Arsenal station, in the grid of terraces between Highbury Hill and Blackstock Road. Gillespie Road, Avenell Road, Elwood Street and the northern end of Highbury Hill are the nearest addresses. Its directory entry did not show a September 2025 cut-off when we checked; the Find Your Islington calculator will give you the current position for any address. This is a pocket where flats in converted houses dominate, and it is where many Islington first-time buyers with a child on the way start looking.

9. Highbury Quadrant Primary School, Highbury New Park N5 2TE

Best for: the Highbury New Park and Clissold side.

A community school on Highbury New Park, between Highbury and Clissold Park. The directory entry did not show a 2025 distance cut-off when checked, so it is listed on location. Highbury New Park, Highbury Grange, Kelross Road and Aberdeen Park are the nearest streets. Check the current position on Find Your Islington.

10. Hanover Primary School, Noel Road N1 8BD

Best for: the Angel and canal side of Islington.

A community school on Noel Road beside the Regent's Canal, a few minutes from Angel station and Upper Street. The directory entry did not show a 2025 distance cut-off when checked, so it is listed on location. Noel Road, Vincent Terrace, Colebrooke Row, Duncan Terrace and the Islington Green streets are the nearest addresses. Check on Find Your Islington.

Top 10 secondary schools in Islington to buy or rent near

Buying with a child under five means thinking about Year 7 too, because the same house usually has to work for both. Camden runs ten state secondaries and co-ordinates Year 7 admissions; applications for September 2027 close on 31 October 2026, with offers on national offer day in March 2027, per Camden Council. Islington uses the same eadmissions.org.uk system and date. Most community secondaries allocate on distance after priority groups, but several are single-sex, the Catholic and Church schools use faith criteria, and Camden School for Girls admits by ability banding. Sixth forms admit on GCSE grades, not address, so proximity matters for Years 7 to 11 rather than 12 and 13.

How this ranking works: Camden published school-level 2025 GCSE results for two secondaries in its August 2025 results release, and its Achievement and Standards Report records which schools had a graded inspection in 2024/25. Schools are ranked on that published evidence and on how hard they are to get into. Where the council has not published a school-level figure, the entry says so and points to the DfE tables. Camden's borough-wide provisional Attainment 8 for 2025 was 46.8, above the national 45.9 and below London's 50.4, per the Camden Learning Achievement and Standards Report 2024-25. Islington schools without comparable published figures are listed on location, at the end.

Rank	School	Type	Gender	Year 7 places	Evidence for position
1	Camden School for Girls	Voluntary aided	Girls	120	Banding; 0.38–0.76 mi for 2026 entry
2	Parliament Hill	Community	Girls	180	41% of GCSE entries at 9–7 in 2025
3	Acland Burghley	Community	Mixed	182	33.5% of GCSE grades at 9–7 in 2025
4	Highbury Fields	Community (Islington)	Girls	see booklet	Listed on location
5	CoLA Highbury Grove	Academy (Islington)	Mixed	see booklet	Listed on location
6	CoLA Highgate Hill	Academy (Islington)	Mixed	see booklet	Listed on location
7	Beacon High	Community (Islington)	Mixed	see booklet	Listed on location
8	Elizabeth Garrett Anderson	Community (Islington)	Girls	see booklet	Listed on location
9	Central Foundation Boys'	Voluntary aided (Islington)	Boys	see booklet	Listed on location
10	St Mary Magdalene Academy	CE academy (Islington)	Mixed	see booklet	Listed on location

Sources: Camden Council Secondary Schools in Camden 2026 (places); Camden Council GCSE results release, 22 August 2025; Camden Learning Achievement and Standards Report 2024-25; Camden School for Girls offer distances page.

1. Camden School for Girls, Sandall Road NW5 2DB

Best for: the strongest academic option in the area for girls, and a mixed sixth form that draws from across north London.

The most selective secondary in Camden by admission method: a Year 6 banding assessment (registration 1 July to 22 September 2026 for 2027 entry), then distance within each band. For 2026 entry the furthest offers were 0.38 miles in Band A, 0.76 in Band B, 0.61 in Band C and 0.47 in Band D, per the school's own offer distances page. Voluntary aided, 120 Year 7 places including 18 for visual arts. First here because it is the hardest place to win and has the largest mixed sixth form in the borough.

Streets in reach: Sandall Road, Camden Park Road, Bartholomew Road, Caversham Road, Leighton Road, Torriano Avenue and Camden Square. Rochester Place's four-bedroom house for sale on Leighton Road at £1,200,000 sits inside the Band B distance.

2. Parliament Hill School, Highgate Road NW5 1RL

Best for: girls in the Gospel Oak, Dartmouth Park and Highgate Road streets.

Girls' community school, 180 Year 7 places, beside Parliament Hill Fields. Second on published results: 41% of GCSE entries at grades 9 to 7 in 2025 and 28% at 8 to 9, per the headteacher quoted in Camden Council's August 2025 results release. Allocates on distance after priority groups; the cut-off is in the allocation table of Camden's secondary admissions guide. Sixth form via LaSWAP.

Streets in reach: Highgate Road, Gordon House Road, Dartmouth Park Road, Chetwynd Road, Mansfield Road and Oak Village. Rochester Place's two-bedroom flat for sale on Grafton Road at offers over £500,000 is a ten-minute walk.

3. Acland Burghley School, Burghley Road NW5 1UJ

Best for: families who want a mixed school a few minutes from Tufnell Park station.

Mixed community school, 182 Year 7 places, in a Grade II listed building. Third on published results: 33.5% of all GCSE grades at 9 to 7 in 2025, its best-ever at that level, per the same council release; 30% in 2024. Allocates on distance; cut-off in Camden's allocation table. LaSWAP sixth form.

Streets in reach: Burghley Road, Lady Margaret Road, Falkland Road, Ospringe Road, Lupton Street, Brecknock Road and Tufnell Park Road, the same streets that feed Eleanor Palmer, so one house can carry a family from Reception to A-levels. See houses for sale in Tufnell Park.

4. Highbury Fields School, Highbury Hill N5

Best for: girls in Highbury.

Girls' community school beside Highbury Fields. Criteria and cut-off in Islington's secondary booklet; listed on location pending the 2025 DfE tables.

Streets in reach: Highbury Hill, Highbury Place, Highbury Crescent, Arvon Road and Drayton Park. See houses for sale in Islington.

5. City of London Academy Highbury Grove, Highbury Grove N5

Best for: mixed education in Highbury and Canonbury.

Mixed academy sponsored by the City of London Corporation. Sets its own criteria; see Islington's admissions pages. Listed on location.

Streets in reach: Highbury Grove, Highbury New Park, Canonbury Road, Alwyne Road and St Paul's Road.

6. City of London Academy Highgate Hill, Archway N19

Best for: the Archway end of Tufnell Park and Islington.

Mixed academy sponsored by the City of London Corporation. Criteria and last distance offered in Islington's secondary booklet on the council's admissions pages; no comparable 2025 results figure gathered, so listed on location.

Streets in reach: Dartmouth Park Hill, Hargrave Park, Bickerton Road and Junction Road. Rochester Place's two-bedroom house on Wedmore Street, under offer at £425,000, is nearby.

7. Beacon High, Hilldrop Road N7

Best for: the Hillmarton and Camden Road side of Holloway.

Mixed community school off Camden Road. See Islington's secondary booklet for criteria and cut-off; listed on location.

Streets in reach: Hilldrop Road, Hillmarton Road, Hungerford Road, Camden Road and Lowther Road. Rochester Place sold a two-bedroom flat on Lowther Road at £625,000 here.

8. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School, Donegal Street N1

Best for: girls on the Barnsbury and King's Cross side.

Girls' community school near King's Cross. Criteria and cut-off in Islington's secondary booklet; listed on location.

Streets in reach: the Barnsbury squares, Thornhill Road, Richmond Avenue and Caledonian Road.

9. Central Foundation Boys' School, Cowper Street EC2

Best for: boys on the southern edge of the borough.

Boys' voluntary aided school near Old Street, with its own sixth form. Criteria in Islington's secondary booklet; listed on location.

Streets in reach: the Angel, Clerkenwell and City Road side; a bus from Highbury or Canonbury.

10. St Mary Magdalene Academy, Liverpool Road N7

Best for: Church of England families in Holloway and Highbury.

Mixed Church of England academy on Liverpool Road with its own sixth form. Faith criteria apply; see Islington's admissions pages. Listed on location.

Streets in reach: Liverpool Road, Holloway Road, Hornsey Road and the Drayton Park grid. Rochester Place's two-bedroom flat for sale on Annette Road at offers over £450,000 is close.

Top 10 sixth forms near Islington, ranked by scale and breadth

Sixth forms admit on GCSE grades, so a buyer cannot buy their way in. What a buyer can weigh is what is within walking distance once the children are sixteen. Ranked by size and curriculum breadth using the year-group figures in Camden's 2019 school census return, the most recent borough-wide breakdown we could verify; providers without a comparable figure are listed on location after the ranked entries.

1. Camden School for Girls Sixth Form, Sandall Road NW5

Best for: students who want the largest and most sought-after mixed sixth form in the borough.

Mixed, and the largest in Camden: 224 in Year 12 and 213 in Year 13 at the council's 2019 school census return, the most recent borough-wide breakdown we could verify. Admits on GCSE grades.

2. LaSWAP Sixth Form Consortium, Highgate Road and Burghley Road NW5

Best for: breadth of subject choice across four schools.

La Sainte Union, Acland Burghley, William Ellis and Parliament Hill pool their sixth forms, with around 42 A-level and BTEC courses and roughly 800 students across the four in the 2019 census. Students move between sites by subject. The sixth form most Kentish Town and Tufnell Park secondaries lead to.

3. City and Islington College, Holloway Road and Angel

Best for: students who want a large further education college rather than a school sixth form.

Islington's main post-16 provider, with sixth form centres on Holloway Road and at Angel offering A-levels and vocational courses. Admits on grades. Listed on location; consult the college's published outcomes.