St Nicholas School
Reedham Drive, Purley, CR8 4DS
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Miss Katie Goodwin
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Croydon South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 265
- Pupils on roll
- 273
- URN
- 101854
- Local authority
- Croydon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02086604861
About this school
St Nicholas School is a community special school in Purley. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 273 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Early years
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 29 | 25 | 41 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | 3% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 92.0 | - | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 93.0 | - |
| Reading progress | -5.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -4.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -5.10 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How St Nicholas 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 | 0% | 60.7% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 62.5% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 67.2% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 245 |
| 2023/24 | 270 |
| 2024/25 | 274 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
Inspection history
- 8 May 2024
-
Ungraded inspection report9 February 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 44.16%
- English as an additional language
- 32.1%
- Overall absence
- 9.46%
- Persistent absence
- 33.6%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Abingdon House School Purley0.5 miles
Special schools · Purley
-
St David's School0.6 miles
Independent schools · Purley
-
Cumnor House School1.1 miles
Independent schools
-
Laleham Lea School1.2 miles
Independent schools · Purley
-
Cumnor House School1.5 miles
Independent schools · South Croydon
Other schools in Purley
- Abingdon House School Purley Special schools
- Purley Nursery School Nursery
- Beaumont Primary School Primary
- Christ Church CofE Primary School (Purley) Primary
- Margaret Roper Catholic Primary School Primary
- Riddlesdown Collegiate Secondary
- The John Fisher School Secondary
- Thomas More Catholic School Secondary
- Laleham Lea School Independent schools
- St David's School Independent schools
Common questions
- What year groups does St Nicholas School teach?
- St Nicholas School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a special school in Purley.
- Who is the headteacher of St Nicholas School?
- The headteacher of St Nicholas School is Miss Katie Goodwin, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Nicholas School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Nicholas 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 big is St Nicholas School?
- St Nicholas School has 273 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is St Nicholas School full?
- St Nicholas School has capacity for 265 pupils and 273 on roll (103%), so it is at or above 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 Nicholas School a faith school?
- No. St Nicholas School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does St Nicholas School have?
- The schools register lists St Nicholas School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have St Nicholas School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is St Nicholas School's absence rate?
- St Nicholas School's overall absence rate is 9.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Nicholas School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Nicholas 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.