Oasis Academy Arena
General Information
- Address: Albert Road, South Norwood, London, SE25 4QL – View on map
- Phone: 02082406700
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Jeanette Bell
- Age range: 11-16 years
- Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 12 families put it first for 22 places – 5 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 3 · 2024 7 · 2025 5 · 2026 5
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: None
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 164
- % eligible for free school meals: 53.9%
- Pupil mix: 9 in 10 (similar to the Croydon average)
- English as an additional language: 51% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 34.8% a year (Croydon 25.2%, typical in England 15.5%)
- Where they went: about 46% moved to another school, 54% 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
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: 10.5%
- Persistently absent pupils: 33.0%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
- Resourced provision for Autism 15 places · 7 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: 28.1%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 5.2%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Social, emotional and mental health: 24 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 16 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 15 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 12 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 12 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 10 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 3 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Ofsted report card April 2026
Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.
- Safeguarding Met
- Inclusion Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
- Achievement Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
- Leadership and governance Expected standard
Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Requires improvement (2023). The report card above replaces that grade.
- Attainment 8 score: 37.6
- Compared with the area: 7.8 points below the Croydon average (45.4)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (−4.9 points against an expected 42.5)
- Grade 4+ in English and maths: 51% (Croydon 63%, England 65%) Improving
- Data year: 2024/25
View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.
GCSE results over time
20th of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for Attainment 8
- #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
Click to see the full ranking
Leaver Destinations
- In education, employment, or training a year later: 84.0%
- Went into further education: 81.0%
- Data year: 2024/25
GCSE Subjects Offered
- Maths (General)
- English Language
- English Literature
- Science Double Award
- Business Studies
- French Language
- Geography
- Computer Science
- History
- Art & Design
- Portuguese
- Spanish
- Italian
- Biology
- Russian
- Greek
- Persian Language
Financials
Spending per pupil: £9,730 (2024-25)
3rd of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for spending per pupil
- #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
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)