The Link School
138 Croydon Road, Beddington, Croydon, CR0 4PG
- Phase
- Academies
- School type
- Academy special converter
- Ages
- 4 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ORCHARD HILL COLLEGE ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Joe Shepherd
- Sponsor
- Orchard Hill College
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Carshalton and Wallington
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 148
- Pupils on roll
- 167
- URN
- 144851
- Local authority
- Sutton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02086885239
About this school
The Link School is a special academy in Croydon. It teaches children aged 4 to 19 and has 167 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
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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- 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 | 12 | 7 | 17 |
| 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 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | 95.0 | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | 90.0 | - |
| Reading progress | -9.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -7.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -8.50 | - | - |
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.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 10 | 13 | 17 |
| Attainment 8 score | 2.9 | 1.8 | 1.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.58 -2.56 to -0.60 | -1.64 -2.44 to -0.84 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
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 The Link 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 | Sutton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0% | 63.4% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 64.5% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 63.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Sutton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 2.9 | 47.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 1.8 | 46.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 1.9 | 47.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 146 |
| 2023/24 | 152 |
| 2024/25 | 157 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 45.71%
- English as an additional language
- 14%
- Overall absence
- 13.83%
- Persistent absence
- 34.72%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Carew Academy0.3 miles
Free Schools · Wallington
-
Sherwood Foundation School0.4 miles
Special schools · Wallington
-
The Write Time0.8 miles
Special schools · London
-
Collingwood School1.1 miles
Independent schools · Wallington
-
Serenity School, Old Palace Croydon1.1 miles
Special schools · Croydon
Other schools in Croydon
- Addington Valley Academy Free Schools
- Arise Academy Special schools
- Aspire Learning Special schools
- Bright Minds Creative Academy Special schools
- Chaffinch Brook School Academies
- Saffron Valley Collegiate Academies
- Serenity School, Old Palace Croydon Special schools
- Supreme Education AP Special schools
- Tunstall Nursery School Nursery
- Aerodrome Primary Academy Primary
- Applegarth Academy Primary
- Ark Oval Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Link School teach?
- The Link School teaches children aged 4 to 19. It is a special school in Croydon.
- Who is the headteacher of The Link School?
- The headteacher of The Link School is Mr Joe Shepherd, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Link School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Link 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 The Link School?
- The Link School has 167 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 19.
- Is The Link School full?
- The Link School has capacity for 148 pupils and 167 on roll (113%), 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 The Link School a faith school?
- No. The Link School has no designated religious character.
- Who runs The Link School?
- The Link School is part of ORCHARD HILL COLLEGE ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Link School have?
- The schools register lists The Link School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Link 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 The Link School's absence rate?
- The Link School's overall absence rate is 13.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Link School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Link 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 10 July 2026.