Thomas More Catholic School
Secondary · Voluntary aided school · Mixed · Croydon
Russell Hill Road, Purley, CR8 2XP
61
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Standards maintained
No graded inspection
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
91.3%
25.0% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
599
Capacity used
Has space70%
850 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
45 of 45 families who put it first got an offer
113
Places offered
345
Total applications
3.1
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 45 | 45 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 58 | 16 | ● 28% |
| 3rd preference | 64 | 14 | ● 22% |
| Later preferences (4th–6th) | 178 | 9 | ● 5% |
| Total | 345 | 84 | 24% |
1st preference success by year
Croydon lets families list 6 preferences. 18 applications came from outside the council area (2 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Voluntary aided school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Maryssa Dako
- Address
- Russell Hill Road, Purley, CR8 2XP
- Phone
- 02086686251
- Local authority
- Croydon
- Ward / constituency
- Purley & Woodcote · Croydon South
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 101821
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 43% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 34% | — | — |
| SEN support | 9% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
599 pupils · 850 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
16 October 2024
Ungraded inspection
Standards maintained
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 675 pupils
Attendance
91.3%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
8.7%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
25.0%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
4.0%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
4.0%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 42.5 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.13 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 38% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 61% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.84 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 16.88 | — | — |
Average grade: D- (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 42.1 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 38.1% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 54.9% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 65.5% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.95 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 113 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 16.88 | 35 |
| Average grade | D- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 0% | 17% |
| A-level students | 24 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 113 | 13% | 42% | 62% | |
| English Language | 113 | 8% | 35% | 53% | |
| English Literature | 113 | 16% | 49% | 65% | |
| Combined Science | 112 | 16% | 39% | 58% | |
| Religious Studies | 111 | 7% | 34% | 50% | |
| Geography | 60 | 7% | 32% | 48% | |
| Spanish | 38 | 24% | 47% | 61% | |
| History | 36 | 19% | 50% | 50% | |
| French | 34 | 32% | 62% | 74% | |
| Art and Design | 27 | 4% | 30% | 78% | |
| Computer Science | 26 | 4% | 42% | 58% | |
| Media / Film / TV | 26 | 27% | 69% | 73% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #324 of 1,897 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 16541: Thomas More Catholic School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2022 |
|---|---|
| Applications | <3 |
| Offers | <3 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | <3 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 59% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 3% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 62% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Croydon council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.