The Quest Academy
Farnborough Avenue, South Croydon, CR2 8HD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE COLLEGIATE TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Andy Crofts
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- The Collegiate Trust
- Constituency
- Croydon East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,115
- Pupils on roll
- 853
- URN
- 136203
- Local authority
- Croydon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02086578935
About this school
The Quest Academy is a secondary academy in South Croydon. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 853 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Quest Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 144 | 161 | 135 |
| Attainment 8 score | 41.5 | 43.8 | 37.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.56 -0.80 to -0.32 | -0.35 -0.58 to -0.13 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 43% | 43.5% | 23% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 59% | 62.1% | 40% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 67% | 67.7% | 57.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.3 |
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 The Quest Academy 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 | 41.5 | 37.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.8 | 37 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 37.5 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 960 |
| 2023/24 | 979 |
| 2024/25 | 903 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Quest Academy compares
The Quest Academy ranked 21st of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 32% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37.5 | 9.5% | 48.9% | 853 | — |
| Coloma Convent Girls' School | 57.4 | 7.8% | 27.1% | 967 | 1.3 miles |
| Shirley High School Performing Arts College | 37.7 | 11% | 53% | 800 | 1.3 miles |
| Coombe Wood School | 52.6 | 6.4% | 31.6% | 1,162 | 1.4 miles |
| Archbishop Tenison's CofE High School | 45.3 | 9.9% | 37.3% | 833 | 1.9 miles |
| Oasis Academy Shirley Park | 42.6 | 9.2% | 51.3% | 1,017 | 2.3 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)
- 48.94%
- English as an additional language
- 26.8%
- Overall absence
- 9.45%
- Persistent absence
- 28.55%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Coloma Convent Girls' School1.3 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Shirley High School Performing Arts College1.3 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Coombe Wood School1.4 miles
Secondary · South Croydon
-
Archbishop Tenison's CofE High School1.9 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Oasis Academy Shirley Park2.3 miles
Secondary · Croydon
Other schools in South Croydon
- Coombe Wood School Secondary
- Harris Academy Purley Secondary
- Atwood Primary School Primary
- Greenvale Primary School Primary
- Gresham Primary School Primary
- Purley Oaks Primary School Primary
- Quest Primary School Primary
- Regina Coeli Catholic Primary School Primary
- Ridgeway Primary School Primary
- Selsdon Primary and Nursery School Primary
- St Peter's Primary School Primary
- Maypole School - Melville Special schools
Common questions
- What ages does The Quest Academy teach?
- The Quest Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in South Croydon.
- Who is the principal of The Quest Academy?
- The principal of The Quest Academy is Mr Andy Crofts, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Quest Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Quest Academy, 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 The Quest Academy?
- The Quest Academy has 853 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Quest Academy full?
- The Quest Academy has capacity for 1,115 pupils and 853 on roll (77%), 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 The Quest Academy a faith school?
- No. The Quest Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Quest Academy a selective school?
- No. The Quest Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Quest Academy part of an academy trust?
- The Quest Academy is part of THE COLLEGIATE TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Quest Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 41.5 in 2022/23 and 37.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Quest Academy compare with other schools in Croydon?
- The Quest Academy ranked 21st of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 32% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Quest Academy's absence rate?
- The Quest Academy's overall absence rate is 9.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Quest Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Quest Academy'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.