Shirley High School Performing Arts College

About Shirley High School Performing Arts College

Shirley High School Performing Arts College in Croydon has been rated Good across every category in its most recent Ofsted inspection, a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating. The school, led by headteacher Tyrone Myton, now holds Good grades for overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. However, the headline exam metric tells a more complicated story. The school’s Progress 8 score for the 2023/24 academic year stands at -0.51, which is classified as well below average nationally. This places Shirley High 20th out of 22 secondary schools in Croydon, putting it in the bottom 10% of the local authority. For context, the Croydon local authority average Progress 8 score is -0.04, meaning pupils at Shirley High make significantly less academic progress between Key Stage 2 and GCSE than the typical student in the borough.

At Key Stage 4, the school’s Attainment 8 score is 38, and just 29.7% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths. The EBacc entry rate is low at 22.9%, with only 7.4% of pupils achieving the EBacc at grade 5 or above. The EBacc average point score is 3.21. In the sixth form, the picture is more balanced: the value-added score is -0.05, which is rated as Average, and students achieved an average of 29.11 points per entry, equivalent to a grade C. The best three A-levels averaged a C- grade. With 45 pupils in the sixth-form cohort, it is a relatively small provision. The school’s ranking nationally by Progress 8 places it in the bottom 17% of all schools, and in London it ranks 455th out of 487 schools. These figures suggest that while the school is well-regarded by Ofsted for its overall environment, academic outcomes for the majority of pupils lag behind local and national averages.

Shirley High is a mixed, non-religious secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 19, with a current roll of 785 against a capacity of 1105. It is heavily oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 academic year, there were 479 applications for 166 places, an oversubscription ratio of 2.89, with 97 first-preference offers made. The school serves a community with high levels of disadvantage, as 48.7% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Facilities include a swimming pool, astro turf, gymnasium, sixth form centre, and dedicated art and music rooms. The school offers a wide range of sports and clubs, including rowing, dance, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, and Model UN. SEND provisions are extensive, covering autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and physical disabilities. This school may suit families who value a broad performing arts curriculum and strong pastoral support, but who are realistic about its academic performance relative to other Croydon secondaries.

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