Secondary school in Croydon
Ark Blake Academy
6 Morland Road, Croydon, CR0 6NA
Ofsted
Graded Good at its last graded inspection, on 22 February 2023.
Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 3 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.
GCSE results 2024/25
Attainment 8 score
The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.
Grade 5+ in English & maths
Grade 4+ in English & maths
EBacc average point score
Entered the EBacc
On Attainment 8 this school is around the middle of state-funded secondaries in England.
Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the top quarter.
Progress 8 2023/24
No Progress 8 score published for this school.
Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 759
- Places
- 1200
- How full
- 63% full — 759 of 1200 places taken, so places are likely to be available
- Girls / boys
- 384 / 375
- Overall absence
- 8%
- Persistently absent
- 25%
secondary schools average 8.6%
secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 53%
- English as an additional language
- 34%
- With an EHC plan
- 1%
- On SEN support
- 14%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Croydon 022F, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.
- Adults with a degree
- 39%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 20%
- Households owning their home
- 33%
- Households in social housing
- 31%
- Households with no car
- 49%
- Adults economically inactive
- 37%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Free schools
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- Ages 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- ARK SCHOOLS
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: Sam Rispoli
- Local authority
- Croydon
- Ward
- Addiscombe West
- Constituency
- Croydon East
- URN
- 147832
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest secondary schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Khair SchoolOther independent school | No grade | — | 0.3 mi |
| Al-Khair Secondary GirlsOther independent school | No grade | — | 0.3 mi |
| St Mary's Catholic High SchoolVoluntary aided school | No grade | 36.5 | 0.6 mi |
| BRIT School for Performing Arts and TechnologyCity technology college | No grade | — | 0.7 mi |
| Archbishop Tenison's CofE High SchoolVoluntary aided school | No grade | 45.3 | 0.8 mi |
| Aya College (Educational Provision)Other independent school | No grade | — | 0.8 mi |
| Harris Invictus Academy CroydonFree schools | Outstanding 2023 | 45 | 0.9 mi |
| Oasis Academy Shirley ParkAcademy sponsor led | No grade | 42.6 | 0.9 mi |
Schools with a similar intake
State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Colton Hills Community SchoolCommunity school | Good 2023 | 39.2 |
| Sheffield Park AcademyAcademy sponsor led | Good 2022 | 35.1 |
| Oasis Academy MediaCityUKAcademy sponsor led | No grade | 38.7 |
| Co-op Academy North ManchesterAcademy sponsor led | Good 2024 | 42.4 |
| Oaklands SchoolCommunity school | Good 2022 | 52.4 |
| Ninestiles, an AcademyAcademy converter | No grade | 44.9 |
| Ark Charter AcademyAcademy sponsor led | No grade | 38.9 |
| Aston University Engineering AcademyUniversity technical college | No grade | 44.1 |
Where these figures come from
- School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
- Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25.
- Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
- Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
- Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.
All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.