Harris City Academy Crystal Palace
Maberley Road, Upper Norwood, London, SE19 2JH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- HARRIS FEDERATION
- Principal
- Samuel Rigby
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Harris Federation
- Constituency
- Streatham and Croydon North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,300
- Pupils on roll
- 1,191
- URN
- 135311
- Local authority
- Croydon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02087712261
About this school
Harris City Academy Crystal Palace is a secondary academy in London. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,191 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 177 | 177 | 163 |
| Attainment 8 score | 48.3 | 51.4 | 52.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.10 -0.31 to +0.11 | +0.24 +0.03 to +0.45 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 46% | 55.4% | 57.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 71% | 71.8% | 74.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 68% | 74.6% | 79.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.8 |
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 Harris City Academy Crystal Palace 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 | 48.3 | 37.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 51.4 | 37 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 52.3 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,271 |
| 2023/24 | 1,258 |
| 2024/25 | 1,162 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Harris City Academy Crystal Palace compares
Harris City Academy Crystal Palace ranked 3rd of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 82% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 45% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 52.3 | 5.6% | 41.1% | 1,191 | — |
| Harris Academy South Norwood | 48.2 | 7.7% | 49.2% | 1,008 | 0.8 miles |
| Harris Academy Beulah Hill | 44.4 | 7.1% | 47.6% | 1,011 | 0.8 miles |
| The Norwood School | 50.2 | 8.8% | 32.2% | 1,076 | 1.3 miles |
| Oasis Academy Arena | 37.6 | 10.5% | 52.6% | 310 | 1.4 miles |
| St Joseph's College | 45.5 | 5.8% | 43% | 739 | 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 41.09%
- English as an additional language
- 32.2%
- Overall absence
- 5.63%
- Persistent absence
- 14.11%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Harris Academy South Norwood0.8 miles
Secondary · London
-
Harris Academy Beulah Hill0.8 miles
Secondary · London
-
The Norwood School1.3 miles
Secondary · London
-
Oasis Academy Arena1.4 miles
Secondary · London
-
St Joseph's College1.5 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in London
Harris City Academy Crystal Palace ranks 108th of the 258 ranked secondary schools in London.
- Acland Burghley School Secondary
- Ada Lovelace Church of England High School Secondary
- Addey and Stanhope School Secondary
- AIM Academy North London Secondary
- Alexandra Park School Secondary
- All Saints Catholic College Secondary
- All Saints Catholic High School Secondary
- Ark Acton Academy Secondary
- Ark All Saints Academy Secondary
- Ark Bolingbroke Academy Secondary
- Ark Burlington Danes Academy Secondary
- Ark Elvin Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Harris City Academy Crystal Palace teach?
- Harris City Academy Crystal Palace teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in London.
- Who is the principal of Harris City Academy Crystal Palace?
- The principal of Harris City Academy Crystal Palace is Samuel Rigby, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Harris City Academy Crystal Palace last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Harris City Academy Crystal Palace, 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 Harris City Academy Crystal Palace?
- Harris City Academy Crystal Palace has 1,191 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Harris City Academy Crystal Palace full?
- Harris City Academy Crystal Palace has capacity for 1,300 pupils and 1,191 on roll (92%), 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 Harris City Academy Crystal Palace a faith school?
- No. Harris City Academy Crystal Palace has no designated religious character.
- Is Harris City Academy Crystal Palace a selective school?
- No. Harris City Academy Crystal Palace is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Harris City Academy Crystal Palace?
- Harris City Academy Crystal Palace is part of HARRIS FEDERATION. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Harris City Academy Crystal Palace's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 48.3 in 2022/23 and 52.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Harris City Academy Crystal Palace rank locally?
- Harris City Academy Crystal Palace ranked 3rd of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 82% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 45% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Harris City Academy Crystal Palace's absence rate?
- Harris City Academy Crystal Palace's overall absence rate is 5.6% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Harris City Academy Crystal Palace's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Harris City Academy Crystal Palace'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 1 July 2026.