Coombe Wood School

Croydon · CR2 7HY

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1162 pupils, 31.2% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 10.5% on SEN support Behaviour 6.4% absence rate Staff 20% turnover Financials £7,833 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Coombe Wood School

General Information

Address: 30 Melville Avenue, South Croydon, CR2 7HY – View on map
Phone: 02082894745
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Ms Nicole Williams
Age range: 11-18 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 321 families put it first for 174 places – 18 for every 10 places. 45% of them were offered a place. 2 of the 174 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 33 · 2024 23 · 2025 25 · 2026 18
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1162 pupils out of 1100 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 279
% eligible for free school meals: 31.2%
Pupil mix: 9 in 10 (more mixed than the Croydon average)
English as an additional language: 25% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 20% a year (Croydon 25.2%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 59% moved to another school, 41% 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 Croydon: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 52 (2.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 2
Suspensions for bullying: 49 (2.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 14 (0.6 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 Croydon, 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: 6.4%
Persistently absent pupils: 17.4%
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

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 10.5%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.4%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 43 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 24 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 20 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 16 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 14 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 12 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 12 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 9 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils

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.

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

–

Ability to Deal with Problems

–

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

Good 2023 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: 52.6
Compared with the area: 7.2 points above the Croydon average (45.4)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (+6.3 points against an expected 46.3)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 74% (Croydon 63%, 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 schoolCroydon averageEngland↗ Improving Up 2.5 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 7.2 points above the Croydon average (45.4).

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.

2nd of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for Attainment 8

#1Coloma Convent Girls' School57.4
#2Coombe Wood School52.6
#3Harris City Academy Crystal Palace52.3
#4Riddlesdown Collegiate50.7

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Coloma Convent Girls' School57.4
#2Coombe Wood School52.6
#3Harris City Academy Crystal Palace52.3
#4Riddlesdown Collegiate50.7
#5Harris Academy South Norwood48.2
#6Harris Academy Purley46.8
#7Norbury High School for Girls46.4
#8Woodcote High School46.1
#9Ark Blake Academy45.6
#10St Joseph's College45.5
#11Archbishop Tenison's CofE High School45.3
#12Harris Invictus Academy Croydon45.0
#13Oasis Academy Coulsdon44.8
#14Orchard Park High School44.8
#15Harris Academy Beulah Hill44.4
#16Oasis Academy Shirley Park42.6
#17Thomas More Catholic School42.1
#18The Archbishop Lanfranc Academy39.1
#19Shirley High School Performing Arts College37.7
#20Oasis Academy Arena37.6
#21The Quest Academy37.5
#22St Mary's Catholic High School36.5
#23Meridian High School34.2

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 94.0%
Went into further education: 91.0%
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
Art & Design
Business Studies
Spanish
History
Latin
Food Technology
Biology
Chemistry (General)
Physics (General)
French Language
Computer Science
Sports Studies
Statistics
Classical Civilisation
Dance: General
Polish
Urdu
Greek
Japanese Language
Turkish

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

4th of 15 secondary schools in Croydon for Ofsted rating

#2Riddlesdown CollegiateOutstanding
#3Ark Blake AcademyGood
#4Coombe Wood SchoolGood
#5Harris Academy PurleyGood
#6Harris Academy South NorwoodGood

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 Invictus Academy CroydonOutstanding
#2Riddlesdown CollegiateOutstanding
#3Ark Blake AcademyGood
#4Coombe Wood SchoolGood
#5Harris Academy PurleyGood
#6Harris Academy South NorwoodGood
#7Meridian High SchoolGood
#8Norbury High School for GirlsGood
#9Oasis Academy CoulsdonGood
#10Orchard Park High SchoolGood
#11Shirley High School Performing Arts CollegeGood
#12St Joseph's CollegeGood
#13Thomas More Catholic SchoolGood
#14Woodcote High SchoolGood
#15The Quest AcademyRequires improvement

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,833 (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.

19th of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for spending per pupil

#17The Quest Academy£8,120
#18Woodcote High School£8,013
#19Coombe Wood School£7,833
#20Oasis Academy Coulsdon£7,717
#21Harris Academy Beulah Hill£7,516

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

#1St Joseph's College£10,277
#2Meridian High School£9,911
#3Oasis Academy Arena£9,730
#4Thomas More Catholic School£9,686
#5Orchard Park High School£9,429
#6Harris Invictus Academy Croydon£9,397
#7Ark Blake Academy£9,217
#8Shirley High School Performing Arts College£9,130
#9The Archbishop Lanfranc Academy£9,066
#10Archbishop Tenison's CofE High School£8,772
#11Harris City Academy Crystal Palace£8,744
#12Harris Academy South Norwood£8,704
#13Coloma Convent Girls' School£8,615
#14St Mary's Catholic High School£8,594
#15Oasis Academy Shirley Park£8,350
#16Harris Academy Purley£8,178
#17The Quest Academy£8,120
#18Woodcote High School£8,013
#19Coombe Wood School£7,833
#20Oasis Academy Coulsdon£7,717
#21Harris Academy Beulah Hill£7,516
#22Riddlesdown Collegiate£6,921
#23Norbury High School for Girls£728

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 Croydon: 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