Coombe Wood School
30 Melville Avenue, South Croydon, CR2 7HY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- GREENSHAW LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Nicole Williams
- Sponsor
- Greenshaw Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Croydon South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,100
- Pupils on roll
- 1,162
- URN
- 145875
- Local authority
- Croydon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02082894745
About this school
Coombe Wood School is a secondary academy in South Croydon. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,162 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
- 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 | 179 | 174 | 177 |
| Attainment 8 score | 50.1 | 50.6 | 52.6 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.40 +0.19 to +0.61 | +0.38 +0.17 to +0.60 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 53% | 56.9% | 55.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 79% | 74.7% | 74% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 52% | 32.8% | 87.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.9 |
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 Coombe Wood 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 | 50.1 | 37.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50.6 | 37 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 52.6 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,021 |
| 2023/24 | 1,064 |
| 2024/25 | 1,136 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Coombe Wood School compares
Coombe Wood School ranked 2nd of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 83% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 52.6 | 6.4% | 31.6% | 1,162 | — |
| Archbishop Tenison's CofE High School | 45.3 | 9.9% | 37.3% | 833 | 0.5 miles |
| Coloma Convent Girls' School | 57.4 | 7.8% | 27.1% | 967 | 1.1 miles |
| Shirley High School Performing Arts College | 37.7 | 11% | 53% | 800 | 1.2 miles |
| Ark Blake Academy | 45.6 | 8.5% | 52.8% | 759 | 1.3 miles |
| The Quest Academy | 37.5 | 9.5% | 48.9% | 853 | 1.4 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)
- 31.63%
- English as an additional language
- 23.2%
- Overall absence
- 6.42%
- Persistent absence
- 17.44%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Archbishop Tenison's CofE High School0.5 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Coloma Convent Girls' School1.1 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Shirley High School Performing Arts College1.2 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Ark Blake Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
The Quest Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · South Croydon
Other schools in South Croydon
- Harris Academy Purley Secondary
- The Quest Academy 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 year groups does Coombe Wood School teach?
- Coombe Wood School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in South Croydon.
- Who is the headteacher of Coombe Wood School?
- The headteacher of Coombe Wood School is Ms Nicole Williams, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Coombe Wood School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Coombe Wood 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 Coombe Wood School?
- Coombe Wood School has 1,162 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Coombe Wood School full?
- Coombe Wood School has capacity for 1,100 pupils and 1,162 on roll (106%), 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 Coombe Wood School a faith school?
- No. Coombe Wood School has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Coombe Wood School?
- Coombe Wood School is part of GREENSHAW LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Coombe Wood School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 50.1 in 2022/23 and 52.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Coombe Wood School rank locally?
- Coombe Wood School ranked 2nd of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 83% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Coombe Wood School's absence rate?
- Coombe Wood School's overall absence rate is 6.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Coombe Wood School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Coombe Wood 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.