St Mary's Catholic High School
Woburn Road, Croydon, CR9 2EE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mr Conal Patrick Shields
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Southwark
- Constituency
- Croydon West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,115
- Pupils on roll
- 565
- URN
- 101814
- Local authority
- Croydon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02086863837
About this school
St Mary's Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided secondary school in Croydon. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 565 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Mary's Catholic High School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 101 | 107 | 105 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.6 | 39.8 | 36.5 |
| Progress 8 score | 0.00 -0.34 to +0.34 | +0.29 -0.03 to +0.60 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 30% | 29.9% | 22.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 45% | 52.3% | 37.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 19% | 15.9% | 24.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How St Mary's Catholic High School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Croydon average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38.6 | 37.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.8 | 37 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 36.5 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 563 |
| 2023/24 | 579 |
| 2024/25 | 564 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Mary's Catholic High School compares
St Mary's Catholic High School ranked 22nd of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 43% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 36.5 | 5.8% | 41.7% | 565 | — |
| Harris Invictus Academy Croydon | 45 | 6.8% | 51.2% | 963 | 0.3 miles |
| Ark Blake Academy | 45.6 | 8.5% | 52.8% | 759 | 0.6 miles |
| Archbishop Tenison's CofE High School | 45.3 | 9.9% | 37.3% | 833 | 1.0 miles |
| Oasis Academy Shirley Park | 42.6 | 9.2% | 51.3% | 1,017 | 1.5 miles |
| Coombe Wood School | 52.6 | 6.4% | 31.6% | 1,162 | 1.5 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 41.67%
- English as an additional language
- 61.3%
- Overall absence
- 5.76%
- Persistent absence
- 17.08%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Harris Invictus Academy Croydon0.3 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Ark Blake Academy0.6 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Archbishop Tenison's CofE High School1.0 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Oasis Academy Shirley Park1.5 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Coombe Wood School1.5 miles
Secondary · South Croydon
Other schools in Croydon
St Mary's Catholic High School ranks 10th of the 11 ranked secondary schools in Croydon.
- Archbishop Tenison's CofE High School Secondary
- Ark Blake Academy Secondary
- Coloma Convent Girls' School Secondary
- Harris Invictus Academy Croydon Secondary
- Meridian High School Secondary
- Oasis Academy Coulsdon Secondary
- Oasis Academy Shirley Park Secondary
- Orchard Park High School Secondary
- Shirley High School Performing Arts College Secondary
- The Archbishop Lanfranc Academy Secondary
- Tunstall Nursery School Nursery
- Aerodrome Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Mary's Catholic High School teach?
- St Mary's Catholic High School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Croydon.
- Who is the headteacher of St Mary's Catholic High School?
- The headteacher of St Mary's Catholic High School is Mr Conal Patrick Shields, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Mary's Catholic High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Mary's Catholic High School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at St Mary's Catholic High School?
- St Mary's Catholic High School has 565 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is St Mary's Catholic High School full?
- St Mary's Catholic High School has capacity for 1,115 pupils and 565 on roll (51%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is St Mary's Catholic High School a faith school?
- Yes. St Mary's Catholic High School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Southwark.
- Is St Mary's Catholic High School a selective school?
- No. St Mary's Catholic High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have St Mary's Catholic High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.6 in 2022/23 and 36.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Mary's Catholic High School compare with other schools in Croydon?
- St Mary's Catholic High School ranked 22nd of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 43% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Mary's Catholic High School's absence rate?
- St Mary's Catholic High School's overall absence rate is 5.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Mary's Catholic High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Mary's Catholic High School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.