Swanlea School is a co-educationalcomprehensivesecondary school in Whitechapel with approximately 1200 students from age 11-18. 210 of these students are at Sixth Form /Key Stage 5. It is situated in the heart of the historic east end of London and less than a mile away from the City of London; it serves the local community. Swanlea School is the 21st best school and the 3rd best school for disadvantaged students in the country.
Swanlea School was one of the first schools in the country to be awarded Business and Enterprise specialist status by the DCFS in 2002, and after inspection by OFSTED (4th July 2013) Swanlea was judged to be outstanding in all areas.
The school holds the Healthy Schools Award, Investors in People Award, Artsmark Silver Award, are Stonewall School Champions and is a UCL Beacon School in Holocaust Education.
There are over 60 permanent teaching staff and more than 100 support/administrative staff working here.[citation needed]
Swanlea School has had three Headteachers, Linda Austin, Brenda Landers and currently, Kabir Miah. Linda Austin retired in January 2011 after 18 years of service, and was awarded an OBE for services to Education in the Queen's birthday honours list in 2011. Brenda Landers became the executive head in 2023, and Kabir Miah was appointed to the Headteacher role in 2024.