St Nicholas School
Special / other · Purley · CR8 4DS
Data updated
Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system
This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.
Inspected 8 May 2024
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
273 pupils · 103% of 265 capacity (over capacity) (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Community special school
- Age range
- 4–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Free school meals
- 43.6% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 32.1% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 1.1% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 98.9% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Website
- st-nicholas.croydon.sch.uk
- URN
- 101854
In figures
Ofsted last graded it Requires improvement on 8 May 2024, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 9.7% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)
41 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025
No pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (0%). Key stage 2 tests measure the age-11 curriculum; most pupils at special schools are assessed under other frameworks, so 97% of special schools publish 0% here.
Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means National averages are not shown here. The England figures are dominated by mainstream schools, and pupils at a special school are working towards outcomes those measures were not designed to capture, so the comparison would mislead more than it tells you.
Special educational needs
Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.
- Speech, Language and Communication Needs
- Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Severe Learning Difficulty
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
Black African 21% (Croydon 15%, England 5%) · White British 14% (Croydon 21%, England 66%) · Not recorded 12% (Croydon 4%, England 2%) · Any other White background 10% (Croydon 7%, England 4%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 8% (Croydon 8%, England 2%) · Any other Mixed background 7% (Croydon 8%, England 3%) · Black Caribbean 7% (Croydon 9%, England 1%) · Asian Pakistani 6% (Croydon 4%, England 4%) · Any other Asian background 4% (Croydon 6%, England 2%) · Asian Indian 3% (Croydon 4%, England 2%) · Asian Bangladeshi 2% (Croydon 1%, England 2%) · Any other Black background 2% (Croydon 6%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black African 2% (Croydon 2%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Asian 1% (Croydon 2%, England 1%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (Croydon 2%, England 2%) · Asian Chinese 1% (Croydon 0%, England 0%)
Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures
Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)
Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)
0.00 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, special schools: 12.32 suspensions and 0.08 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Croydon: 9.06 suspensions and 0.15 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
Suspensions and exclusions, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions
Staffing
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Teacher retention (2024/25)
97% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 3% moved to another state school
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, special schools and PRUs: 0.68% vacant, 1.02% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
43.6% of teachers took sickness absence, 11.4 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days
Teacher pay (November 2025)
Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £55,898; 10% on the leadership pay range · England, special schools and PRUs: £53,604, 18.3%
Vacancies, sickness and pay, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted
Spending per pupil (2025-26)
Where the money went (2025-26)
Share of spending, with the median for special schools in brackets: Staff 76% (81%) · premises 4% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 4% (4%) · supplies and services 17% (9%) · educational supplies 2% (3%) · bought-in professional services 14% (4%) · catering 2% (2%)
Reserves (2025-26)
Revenue reserve £928,677; in-year balance +£112,882
Spending and reserves, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: council-maintained school finance return, 2025-26, DfE · how spending is compared
Inspection history since 2015
- 8 May 2024: Requires improvement
- 8 February 2023: School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next
- 6 June 2017: Yes - improving (good)
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 5/10around the middle for England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 5/10around the middle for England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 44.6% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 12.7% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 41.6% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 16.1% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 50.5% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 57.1% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 21.6% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 21.3% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 14.3% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 41.5% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 24.6% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 27.9% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01001074 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £475,000407 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £375,000–£639,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are dearer than three quarters of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.
Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Roads around the school
- Child pedestrian casualties
- 2an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 7an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 31an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 6an urban school averages 6.1
A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted