Ark Blake Academy
6 Morland Road, Croydon, CR0 6NA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- ARK SCHOOLS
- Headteacher
- Mr Sam Rispoli
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- ARK Schools
- Constituency
- Croydon East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 759
- URN
- 147832
- Local authority
- Croydon
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02034439000
About this school
Ark Blake Academy is a secondary academy in Croydon. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 759 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
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 154 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.6 |
| Progress 8 score | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 50.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 63.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 58.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 |
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 Ark Blake 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 | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 523 |
| 2023/24 | 664 |
| 2024/25 | 782 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ark Blake Academy compares
Ark Blake Academy ranked 9th of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 60% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 14% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 45.6 | 8.5% | 52.8% | 759 | — |
| St Mary's Catholic High School | 36.5 | 5.8% | 41.7% | 565 | 0.6 miles |
| Archbishop Tenison's CofE High School | 45.3 | 9.9% | 37.3% | 833 | 0.8 miles |
| Harris Invictus Academy Croydon | 45 | 6.8% | 51.2% | 963 | 0.9 miles |
| Oasis Academy Shirley Park | 42.6 | 9.2% | 51.3% | 1,017 | 0.9 miles |
| Oasis Academy Arena | 37.6 | 10.5% | 52.6% | 310 | 1.2 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)
- 52.81%
- English as an additional language
- 33.9%
- Overall absence
- 8.46%
- Persistent absence
- 25.28%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Mary's Catholic High School0.6 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Archbishop Tenison's CofE High School0.8 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Harris Invictus Academy Croydon0.9 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Oasis Academy Shirley Park0.9 miles
Secondary · Croydon
-
Oasis Academy Arena1.2 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in Croydon
Ark Blake Academy ranks 2nd of the 11 ranked secondary schools in Croydon.
- Archbishop Tenison's CofE High School 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
- Shirley High School Performing Arts College 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 Ark Blake Academy teach?
- Ark Blake Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Croydon.
- Who is the headteacher of Ark Blake Academy?
- The headteacher of Ark Blake Academy is Mr Sam Rispoli, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ark Blake Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ark Blake 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 big is Ark Blake Academy?
- Ark Blake Academy has 759 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Ark Blake Academy full?
- Ark Blake Academy has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 759 on roll (63%), 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 Ark Blake Academy a faith school?
- No. Ark Blake Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Ark Blake Academy a selective school?
- No. Ark Blake Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Ark Blake Academy?
- Ark Blake Academy is part of ARK SCHOOLS. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How does Ark Blake Academy rank locally?
- Ark Blake Academy ranked 9th of 23 secondary schools in Croydon for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 60% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 14% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Ark Blake Academy's absence rate?
- Ark Blake Academy's overall absence rate is 8.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ark Blake Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ark Blake 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 10 July 2026.