Shirley High School Performing Arts College
Shirley Church Road, Croydon, CR0 5EF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- SHIRLEY HIGH SCHOOL
- Principal
- Mr Tyrone Myton
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Croydon East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,105
- Pupils on roll
- 800
- URN
- 137772
- Local authority
- Croydon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02086569755
About this school
Shirley High School Performing Arts College is a secondary academy in Croydon. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 800 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- 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 | 165 | 175 | 120 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.4 | 38.0 | 37.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.17 -0.39 to +0.05 | -0.51 -0.73 to -0.29 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 39% | 29.7% | 23.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 61% | 48.6% | 49.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 30% | 22.9% | 31.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
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 Shirley High School Performing Arts College 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 | 44.4 | 37.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38 | 37 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 37.7 | 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 | 11% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 838 |
| 2023/24 | 826 |
| 2024/25 | 785 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Shirley High School Performing Arts College compares
Shirley High School Performing Arts College ranked 19th 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 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37.7 | 11% | 53% | 800 | — |
| Coloma Convent Girls' School | 57.4 | 7.8% | 27.1% | 967 | 0.1 miles |
| Orchard Park High School | 44.8 | 7.6% | 45% | 675 | 1.1 miles |
| Oasis Academy Shirley Park | 42.6 | 9.2% | 51.3% | 1,017 | 1.1 miles |
| Coombe Wood School | 52.6 | 6.4% | 31.6% | 1,162 | 1.2 miles |
| The Quest Academy | 37.5 | 9.5% | 48.9% | 853 | 1.3 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)
- 52.99%
- English as an additional language
- 30.6%
- Overall absence
- 11.02%
- Persistent absence
- 35.17%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Coloma Convent Girls' School0.1 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Orchard Park High School1.1 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Oasis Academy Shirley Park1.1 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Coombe Wood School1.2 miles
Secondary · South Croydon
-
The Quest Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · South Croydon
Other schools in Croydon
Shirley High School Performing Arts College ranks 9th 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
- St Mary's Catholic High School Secondary
- The Archbishop Lanfranc Academy Secondary
- Tunstall Nursery School Nursery
- Aerodrome Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Shirley High School Performing Arts College teach?
- Shirley High School Performing Arts College teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Croydon.
- Who is the principal of Shirley High School Performing Arts College?
- The principal of Shirley High School Performing Arts College is Mr Tyrone Myton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Shirley High School Performing Arts College last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Shirley High School Performing Arts College, 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 Shirley High School Performing Arts College?
- Shirley High School Performing Arts College has 800 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Shirley High School Performing Arts College full?
- Shirley High School Performing Arts College has capacity for 1,105 pupils and 800 on roll (72%), 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 Shirley High School Performing Arts College a faith school?
- No. Shirley High School Performing Arts College has no designated religious character.
- Is Shirley High School Performing Arts College a selective school?
- No. Shirley High School Performing Arts College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Shirley High School Performing Arts College?
- Shirley High School Performing Arts College is part of SHIRLEY HIGH SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Shirley High School Performing Arts College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.4 in 2022/23 and 37.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Shirley High School Performing Arts College rank locally?
- Shirley High School Performing Arts College ranked 19th 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 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Shirley High School Performing Arts College's absence rate?
- Shirley High School Performing Arts College's overall absence rate is 11% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Shirley High School Performing Arts College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Shirley High School Performing Arts College'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.