Addington Valley Academy
Addington Valley Academy is a special free school in Croydon for boys and girls aged 2 to 19. It has 140 pupils and room for 150. About 46 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Fieldway, Croydon, CR0 9AZ020 4511 2949addingtonvalley.orgMr John Reilly headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 25 January 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
19 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
The government hasn't published this school's headline results. That usually means the year group was too small to publish without identifying children.
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025
4 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. With a year group this small, a couple of children can move the percentages a long way.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | Croydon | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 4 | 5 | 1 | – | – |
There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Croydon council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (140).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 140 | 132 | 133 | 113 | 76 | 21 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 49% | 51% | 42% | 47% | 47% | 52% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 36% | 39% | 37% | 37% | 40% | 24% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 99% | 99% | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.0% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 8.0% | 7.9% | 8.0% | 21.6% | 10.5% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 6.1% | 6.3% | 6.3% | 21.0% | 8.9% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.9% | 1.6% | 1.7% | 0.6% | 1.6% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 22.1% | 26.1% | 26.3% | 98.5% | 34.8% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 0.0 | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other special schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applegarth Academy | Academy | 380 m | 396 | Good 2021 | 93 | Compare |
| Castle Hill Academy | Academy | 460 m | 263 | Good 2019 | 71 | Compare |
| Good Shepherd Catholic Primary and Nursery School | Academy | 570 m | 193 | Good 2024 | 36 | Compare |
| Tudor Academy | Academy | 0.8 miles | 416 | Not inspected | 61 | Compare |
| Forestdale Primary School | Council | 0.9 miles | 405 | Good 2022 | 74 | Compare |
| Forest Academy | Academy | 0.9 miles | 180 | Good 2022 | 64 | Compare |
| Red Gates School | Council | 1.0 miles | 160 | No overall grade 2024 | – | Compare |
| Quest Primary School | Academy | 1.1 miles | 199 | Good 2023 | 22 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Addington Valley Academy a good school?
Addington Valley Academy doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in January 2023.
What is Addington Valley Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Addington Valley Academy good at its last full inspection on 25 January 2023.
How many pupils does Addington Valley Academy have?
140 pupils aged 2 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 150 places, so it is 93% full.
What is attendance like at Addington Valley Academy?
Pupils were in school 92.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 22% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Addington Valley Academy have a breakfast club?
Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.
Does Addington Valley Academy have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Fieldway, Croydon, CR0 9AZ
- Telephone
- 020 4511 2949
- Website
- www.addingtonvalley.org
- Headteacher
- Mr John Reilly
- Free breakfast club
- Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
- Type of school
- Special free school (Free schools special, free schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 2-19, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- Orchard Hill College Academy Trust (13 schools)
- Local authority
- Croydon
- Ward
- New Addington North
- Constituency
- Croydon East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2020 (new provision)
- URN
- 147874 · LAESTAB 3067002 · UKPRN 10086489
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Year 6 results: DfE key stage 2 tables, 2024/25.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Breakfast club: DfE list of schools on the free breakfast club programme.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.