Rutlish School - The School Companion

Rutlish School

Merton · SW20 9AD

General information Secondary School · 11-19 years Who goes here 1471 pupils, 24.3% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted: Outstanding

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN Resourced provision · 17.2% on SEN support Behaviour 6.0% absence rate Staff 16.1% turnover Financials £8,880 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Rutlish School

General Information

Address: Watery Lane, Merton Park, London, SW20 9AD – View on map
Phone: 02085421212
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Ms Laura Howarth
Age range: 11-19 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 195 families put it first for 260 places – 8 for every 10 places. 86% of them were offered a place. 8 of the 260 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 8 · 2024 9 · 2025 10 · 2026 8
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Boys
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1471 pupils out of 1500 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 287
% eligible for free school meals: 24.3%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (similar to the Merton average)
English as an additional language: 51% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 16.1% a year (Merton 17.8%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 33% moved to another school, 67% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Merton: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 5 (0.5 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 16 (1.5 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 3 (0.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Merton, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 6.0%
Persistently absent pupils: 16.5%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

Resourced provision for Speech, language and communication 10 places · 10 pupils at the last count

Places are usually for children with an EHC Plan and are arranged through the council, not the normal school application.

Pupils on SEN Support: 17.2%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.3%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Specific learning difficulty: 95 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 76 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 37 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 25 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 11 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 19 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 17 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 15 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 11 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Outstanding 2022 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 60.5
Compared with the area: 7.3 points above the Merton average (53.2)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (+9.4 points against an expected 51.1)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 85% (Merton 76%, England 65%) Broadly steady
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolMerton averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 7.3 points above the Merton average (53.2).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

1st of 8 secondary schools in Merton for Attainment 8

#1Rutlish School60.5
#2Harris Academy Wimbledon58.3
#3Wimbledon College57.0

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Rutlish School60.5
#2Harris Academy Wimbledon58.3
#3Wimbledon College57.0
#4Ricards Lodge High School54.2
#5Harris Academy Merton53.7
#6Harris Academy Morden46.6
#7St Mark's Church of England Academy46.1
#8Raynes Park High School45.3

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 95.0%
Went into further education: 95.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
English Literature
Religious Studies
Science Double Award
Geography
History
Computer Science
Physics (General)
Biology
Chemistry (General)
D & T
Economics
Media Studies
Sports Studies
Spanish
German
French Language
Speech & Drama
Art & Design
Chinese
Portuguese
Music Studies (General)
Turkish
Russian
Arabic
Urdu
Polish
Greek
Astronomy
Statistics

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

5th of 9 secondary schools in Merton for Ofsted rating

#3Harris Academy WimbledonOutstanding
#4Ricards Lodge High SchoolOutstanding
#5Rutlish SchoolOutstanding
#6St Mark's Church of England AcademyOutstanding
#7Raynes Park High SchoolGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Harris Academy MertonOutstanding
#2Harris Academy MordenOutstanding
#3Harris Academy WimbledonOutstanding
#4Ricards Lodge High SchoolOutstanding
#5Rutlish SchoolOutstanding
#6St Mark's Church of England AcademyOutstanding
#7Raynes Park High SchoolGood
#8Ursuline High School WimbledonGood
#9Wimbledon CollegeGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,880 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

4th of 9 secondary schools in Merton for spending per pupil

#2Harris Academy Morden£9,228
#3Harris Academy Wimbledon£8,983
#4Rutlish School£8,880
#5Wimbledon College£8,791
#6St Mark's Church of England Academy£8,628

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Raynes Park High School£10,223
#2Harris Academy Morden£9,228
#3Harris Academy Wimbledon£8,983
#4Rutlish School£8,880
#5Wimbledon College£8,791
#6St Mark's Church of England Academy£8,628
#7Ricards Lodge High School£8,532
#8Harris Academy Merton£8,331
#9Ursuline High School Wimbledon£5,047

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Merton: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered