Lambeth

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Code: E09000022
Director of Children's Services: Andrew Carter

Summary of Ofsted findings

Summary of Ofsted findings

Inspection of Lambeth’s local authority children’s services

These inspections focus on the effectiveness of local authority services and arrangements:

  • to help and protect children, and enable families to stay together and get the help they need
  • the experiences and progress of children in care wherever they live, including those children who return home
  • the arrangements for permanence for children who are looked after, in stable, loving homes, including adoption
  • the experiences and progress of care leavers.
Inspection type Inspection start date Overall effectiveness Impact of leaders Help and protection Children in care Care leavers
ILACS Standard Inspection 12 January 2026 Good Good Requires improvement to be good Good Outstanding

Data source

Area SEND inspection of Lambeth Local Area Partnership

The purpose of an area SEND inspection is to:

  • provide an independent, external evaluation of the effectiveness of the local area partnership’s arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)
  • where appropriate, recommend what the local area partnership should do to improve the arrangements.
Inspection outcome

Lambeth local area partnership has not yet been inspected under the current Area SEND framework.

Data source

Joint targeted area inspection of Lambeth local authority

The agencies for these inspections can include the police, children’s social care, probation services, education and relevant health services. Inspectors will also evaluate how local agencies work with education and childcare providers. The focus of these inspections is how effectively the local safeguarding partners work together at the practice and strategic levels.

Theme Inspection start date Link
There have been no JTAI inspections for this local authority.

Data source

Ofsted inspection reports and tools

Local authority inspection reports (opens in new tab)
Access to childcare dashboard (childcare deserts and oases) (opens in new tab)

Local authority context

Population 18 and under Number %
Lambeth 54,733 17.3%
National 12,869,368 22.0%

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Children looked after Number Rate per 10,000
Lambeth 377 73
National 81,770 67

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School-age pupils eligible for free school meals Number %
Lambeth 12,277 39.6%
National 2,085,168 26.7%

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School-age pupils eligible for extra funding (pupil premium) Number %
Lambeth 13,006 43.0%
National 2,266,608 29.3%

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in state-funded settings Number %
Lambeth 7,940 21.4%
National 1,766,924 19.6%

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School-age pupils with English as an additional language Number %
Lambeth 15,260 43.6%
National 1,806,029 21.4%

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% of children in income-deprived families (IDACI) Average %
Lambeth 44.0%
National 38.0%
Back to the top of the section Data source
Health Index (children and young people) Health Index score
Lambeth 93.3
National 100.8
More details about the health index metric

Indicates the health of an area measured in three domains: Healthy People, Health Lives and Healthy Places.

A score of 100 represents health in England in 2015. A higher number means better health and a lower number means worse health.

Data source

Remit overview

Contents

Early years

Population Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth % National
Aged 0 to 5 years 17,171 5.4% 6.4%
Aged 0 3,271 1.0% 1.0%
Aged 1 3,029 1.0% 1.0%
Aged 2 2,985 0.9% 1.1%
Aged 3 2,642 0.8% 1.1%
Aged 4 2,628 0.8% 1.1%
Aged 5 2,616 0.8% 1.1%

Data source

Disadvantaged Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth % National
Early years pupil premium 574 3.3% 3.3%
Children looked after (under 1 year) 20 0.6% 0.6%
Children looked after (1 to 4 years) 38 0.3% 0.4%

Data sources:

Special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) /
Education, health and care plans (EHCP) 		Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth % National
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 2 and under) 44 0.5% 0.3%
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 3) 136 5.0% 3.6%
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 4) 246 9.1% 9.5%
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 5) 333 12.7% 12.3%
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (age 5 and under) 759 4.4% 4.5%
Children with an EHCP (age 2 and under) 3 0.0% 0.0%
Children with an EHCP (age 3) 20 0.7% 0.7%
Children with an EHCP (age 4) 84 3.1% 3.5%
Children with an EHCP (age 5) 138 5.3% 4.8%
Total: Children with an EHCP (age 5 and under) 245 1.4% 1.6%

Data sources:

Funded early years places for 2-year-olds Population aged 2-years-old Number of eligible 2-year-olds % of population aged 2 % take-up of funded places
Lambeth 2,985 708 23.7% 57.5%
National 630,059 145,824 23.1% 65.2%

Data source

Funded early years places for 3-year-olds Population aged 3-years-old Number of eligible 3-year-olds % of population aged 3 % take-up of funded places
Lambeth 2,642 All 3-year olds are eligible 85.4%
National 625,948 90.6%
The 2 and 3-year-old funded places tables look different because they measure different things; funded places for 2-year-olds are only for children considered to be disadvantaged, while for 3-year-olds everyone is entitled to a funded place.

Data source

Children's overweight and obesity Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth % National
Children's overweight and obesity (reception-age children) 525 24.0% 23.5%

Data source

Oral health Number examined in Lambeth % examined in Lambeth % in Lambeth % National
Oral health (visible tooth decay in 5-year-olds) 327 11.7% 16.7% 22.4%
Back to the top of the section Data source

Schools

Population Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth1 % National1
Primary-age pupils (ages 5 to 11) 19,049 6.0% 8.2%
Secondary-age pupils (ages 12 to 16) 14,704 4.6% 6.2%

Data source

Population of looked-after-children Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth1 % National1
Ages 5 to 9 52 0.4% 0.4%
Ages 10 to 15 111 0.6% 0.7%

Data source

Pupils eligible for free schools meals Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth2 % National2
Primary 6,547 36.7% 25.3%
Secondary 5,277 42.5% 27.5%
Alternative provision 53 65.4% 64.6%
Special 376 64.1% 49.5%
Non-maintained special – – 31.0%

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Pupils eligible for pupil premium Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth2 % National2
Primary 6,778 36.8% 25.1%
Secondary 5,728 48.4% 28.9%

Data source

Pupils with SEND Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth2 % National2
Primary 3,788 20.8% 18.2%
Secondary 2,768 17.8% 16.5%
Alternative provision 58 71.6% 83.4%
Special 745 100.0% 99.9%
Non-maintained special – – 99.7%
Independent schools 487 22.7% 24.1%

Data source

Pupils with English as an additional language Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth2 % National2
Primary 8,311 45.7% 23.4%
Secondary 6,580 42.2% 19.2%
Alternative provision 1 1.2% 7.6%
Special 217 29.1% 14.5%
Non-maintained special – – 11.0%
Back to the top of the section Data source
Attendance of all pupils up to week 4 of calendar year % in Lambeth2 % National2
Primary 94.8% 95.0%
Secondary 92.1% 91.8%
Special 90.9% 87.1%

Data source

Attendance of pupils eligible for free school meals (summer term 2024/25) % in Lambeth2 % National2
Primary 92.6% 91.9%
Secondary 89.9% 85.2%
Special 90.0% 85.1%

Data source

Attendance of pupils with SEND (summer term 2024/25) % in Lambeth2 % National2
Primary 92.1% 92.1%
Secondary 88.4% 84.3%
Special – 87.3%

Data source

Primary attainment: Year 1 phonics screening pass Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth2 % National2
All pupils 1,908 80.0% 79.8%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 503 71.9% 66.6%
Pupils with SEND 199 43.3% 43.4%
Pupils with English as an additional language 746 77.4% 79.5%
Back to the top of the section Data source
Primary attainment: Year 4 times table check (full marks) Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth2 % National2
All pupils 811 30.5% 36.8%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 281 27.0% 27.4%
Pupils with SEND 95 14.6% 16.5%
Pupils with English as an additional language 401 32.8% 45.2%

Data source

Primary attainment: Key stage 2 reading, writing, maths combined (met the expected standard) Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth2 % National2
All pupils 1,825 68.0% 62.6%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 708 59.0% 47.7%
Pupils with SEND 241 35.8% 23.8%
Pupils with English as an additional language 904 68.5% 66.2%

Data source

Secondary attainment: Attainment 8 Average in Lambeth2 National average2
All pupils 45.3 45.9
Pupils eligible for free school meals 39.4 35.0
Pupils with SEND 28.5 28.1

Data source

Population receiving education outside of their local authority Number outside of Lambeth % outside of Lambeth2 % National2
Primary 2,097 13.0% 4.1%
Secondary 4,171 32.5% 8.7%
Special 103 18.0% 9.0%
Back to the top of the section Data source
Children being home educated Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth1 % National1
Primary 90 0.5% 0.8%
Secondary 190 1.3% 2.5%
Total 270 0.8% 1.5%
More details about the children being home educated numbers
Local authority data in the source dataset has been rounded to the nearest 10. As a result totals may not equal the sum of their component parts.

Data source

Suspensions (from primary school) Number in Lambeth Rate per 100 pupils in Lambeth3 Rate per 100 pupils National3
Total number of suspensions 106 0.6 0.9
Total pupils with one or more suspensions 65 0.4 0.5
Pupils with one or more suspensions who are eligible for free school meals 43 0.7 (in group) 1.2 (in group)
Pupils with one or more suspensions with SEND 51 1.4 (in group) 2.4 (in group)
More details about suspensions from state-funded primary schools and totals not summing
Suspensions data on total number of pupils may not match, as a change in a pupil’s category within the same term results in them being counted separately under each category. For example, if a pupil receives multiple suspensions while classified as not having SEN, and then receives additional suspensions after being reclassified as receiving SEN support during the same term, they will be recorded as two separate enrolments in the data.

Data source

Suspensions (from secondary school) Number in Lambeth Rate per 100 pupils in Lambeth3 Rate per 100 pupils National3
Total number of suspensions 471 3.1 7.8
Total pupils with one or more suspensions 358 2.4 3.8
Pupils with one or more suspensions who are eligible for free school meals 216 3.7 (in group) 8.2 (in group)
Pupils with one or more suspensions with SEND 118 4.6 (in group) 9.1 (in group)
More details about suspensions from state-funded secondary schools and totals not summing
Suspensions data on total number of pupils may not match, as a change in a pupil’s category within the same term results in them being counted separately under each category. For example, if a pupil receives multiple suspensions while classified as not having SEN, and then receives additional suspensions after being reclassified as receiving SEN support during the same term, they will be recorded as two separate enrolments in the data.

Data source

Suspensions (from special school) Number in Lambeth Rate per 100 pupils in Lambeth3 Rate per 100 pupils National3
Total number of suspensions 16 2.2 5.1
Total pupils with one or more suspensions 13 1.8 2.9
Pupils with one or more suspensions who are eligible for free school meals 8 1.7 (in group) 4.1 (in group)
Pupils with one or more suspensions with SEND 13 1.8 (in group) 2.9 (in group)
More details about suspensions from state-funded special schools and totals not summing
Suspensions data on total number of pupils may not match, as a change in a pupil’s category within the same term results in them being counted separately under each category. For example, if a pupil receives multiple suspensions while classified as not having SEN, and then receives additional suspensions after being reclassified as receiving SEN support during the same term, they will be recorded as two separate enrolments in the data.

Data source

Back to the top of the section
Exclusions (from primary school) Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth2 % National2
Total number of pupils excluded 0 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 0 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils with SEND 0 0.0% 0.1%

Data source

Exclusions (from secondary school) Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth2 % National2
Total number of pupils excluded 2 0.0% 0.1%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 1 0.0% 0.2%
Pupils with SEND 0 0.0% 0.3%

Data source

Exclusions (from special school) Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth2 % National2
Total number of pupils excluded 0 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 0 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils with SEND 0 0.0% 0.0%
Back to the top of the section Data source

1. % of all children in Lambeth / England.

2. % of all pupils in state-funded settings across Lambeth / England.

3. Rate per 100 pupils in state-funded settings across Lambeth / England.

Further education and skills

Population Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth % National
Aged 16 to 18 years 9,592 3.0% 3.6%
Aged 19 to 21 years 10,389 3.3% 3.6%
Aged 22 to 24 years 18,827 5.9% 3.6%
Aged 25 years and over 232,971 73.5% 70.8%

Data source

Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) Number in Lambeth % in Lambeth % National
16- to 17-year-olds known to LA 5,801 2.0% 2.4%
NEET 124 2.1% 3.4%
Activity not known 124 2.1% 2.2%
Total NEET or activity not known 248 4.3% 5.6%

Data source

16 to 18 progression to higher education or training % in Lambeth % National
Degrees (all) 75.0% 66.0%
Degrees at top third higher education institutions 30.0% 24.0%
Higher apprenticeships 1.0% 2.0%
Other study at level 4 and 5 2.0% 3.0%
Progressing to higher education or training 78.0% 70.0%
More details about the further education and skills destinations data

This data reflects the destinations of pupils based on the number on roll when they were aged 16 to 18, tracking where they progressed after completing their studies.

Degree destinations include any study at level 6 or higher such as bachelor degrees, graduate diplomas, and post-graduate degrees. The top third higher education institutions when ranked by average UCAS tariff score of entrants across their best 3 A levels.

Higher apprenticeships are those from level 4 to 7 and are equivalent to a foundation degree and above. Degree apprenticeships are available at levels 6 and 7.

Other study at level 4 or 5 destinations include those students studying qualifications such as foundation degrees, Higher National Certificates (HNCs) and Higher National Diplomas (HNDs).

Data source

Social care

Explore the findings from Ofsted's local authority inspections.

Explore population characteristics for this local authority.