Coombe Wood School
Secondary · Free schools · Mixed · Croydon
30 Melville Avenue, South Croydon, CR2 7HY
72
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 17/01/2023
Application demand
32%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
93.6%
17.4% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,162
Capacity used
Over capacity106%
1,100 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
32%
1st preference success rate
139 of 430 families who put it first got an offer
175
Places offered
1479
Total applications
8.5
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 430 | 139 | ● 32% |
| 2nd preference | 362 | 18 | ● 5% |
| 3rd preference | 286 | 7 | ● 2% |
| Later preferences (4th–6th) | 401 | 11 | ● 3% |
| Total | 1479 | 175 | 12% |
1st preference success by year
Croydon lets families list 6 preferences. 47 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
- Free schools
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Nicole Williams
- Address
- 30 Melville Avenue, South Croydon, CR2 7HY
- Phone
- 02082894745
- Local authority
- Croydon
- Ward / constituency
- South Croydon · Croydon South
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 145875
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 31% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 20% | — | — |
| SEN support | 10% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 3 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: GREENSHAW LEARNING TRUST
1,162 pupils · 1,100 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
17 January 2023
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 929 pupils
Attendance
93.6%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
6.4%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
17.4%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
1.1%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.9%
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 | 50.6 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.38 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 57% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 75% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.43 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 26.12 | — | — |
Average grade: C- (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 52.6 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 55.4% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 74% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 87.6% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.94 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 177 | — |
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 | 31.06 | 35 |
| Average grade | C | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 7.6% | 17% |
| A-level students | 92 | — |
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 | 177 | 27% | 58% | 77% | |
| English Language | 177 | 28% | 71% | 81% | |
| English Literature | 174 | 37% | 72% | 86% | |
| Religious Studies | 170 | 19% | 53% | 71% | |
| Combined Science | 141 | 13% | 45% | 70% | |
| Geography | 94 | 17% | 47% | 59% | |
| Art and Design | 90 | 19% | 49% | 72% | |
| Business | 88 | 26% | 57% | 73% | |
| Spanish | 83 | 25% | 64% | 70% | |
| History | 79 | 39% | 67% | 75% | |
| Latin | 43 | 16% | 35% | 42% | |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 37 | 0% | 16% | 46% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 48 | 2% | 15% | 38% | |
| Mathematics | 39 | 0% | 13% | 36% | |
| Biology | 24 | 4% | 13% | 25% | |
| Economics | 23 | 0% | 9% | 61% | |
| English Literature | 20 | 10% | 20% | 65% | |
| Physics | 19 | 0% | 0% | 5% | |
| History | 18 | 0% | 11% | 56% | |
| Business Studies | 16 | 0% | 19% | 31% | |
| Chemistry | 15 | 0% | 20% | 33% | |
| Physical Education / Sports Studies | 13 | 0% | 0% | 38% | |
| Sociology | 10 | 10% | 10% | 50% | |
| Computer Science | 6 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Oxbridge
No Cambridge applications recorded for this school in 2020–2025.
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) |
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.