Orchard Park High School, Croydon

From the headteacher's welcome: "We are a comprehensive, co-educational 11 to 16 school situated in the leafy suburbs of Shirley, bordering Bromley."

On phones, the school says: "Mobile phones, if seen, will be confiscated and a parent/carer must come to collect them."

In 2026, pupils at Orchard Park High School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 50.5, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 46.4 in Croydon and 47 across England.

58% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 46% in Croydon and 47% in England.

That is up from 44.8 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.37: pupils made above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 45.9, against 54 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 8.1 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 21 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were History, Combined Science and Biology.

For September 2026 entry, 139 families put Orchard Park High School as their first choice and 601 named it as one of their preferences, for 145 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 29 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Orchard Park High School are Orion Eden Park (0.7 miles, Good, Attainment 8 48.9); Langley Park School for Boys (0.8 miles, Good, Attainment 8 52.7); Langley Park School for Girls (1 mile, Good, Attainment 8 56.2); and Oasis Academy Shirley Park (1.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 40.6).

Orchard Park High School's 2026 results were higher than 2 of these 4 schools.

Orchard Park High School is one of 39 schools run by Greenshaw Learning Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 48 in 2024/25.

Of the 131 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 84% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 33% to a further education college, 1% to an apprenticeship and 5% into work.

40% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.

Orchard Park High School has a resourced provision for speech, language and communication needs: 25 places, 20 pupils on roll.

The nearest railway station is Eden Park Station, about 1090 metres away (roughly a 14-minute walk).

4 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Glade Gardens (->s), 310 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 218 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and vehicle crime. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Croydon (488).

In 2024/25, Orchard Park High School issued 461 suspensions, 72.7 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Orchard Park High School are Orchard Way Primary School (under 0.1 miles), Oak Lodge Primary School (0.6 miles), Monks Orchard Primary School (0.7 miles) and Marian Vian Primary School (0.8 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.