Priory School
Hermitage Road, Upper Norwood, London, SE19 3QNOpen in maps (opens in a new tab)
Priory School is a special school in Croydon for ages 11 to 19. It is one of the 153 schools in Croydon. Its latest Ofsted rating is Good, from an inspection in July 2024.
Ofsted inspection
Inspected 2 July 2024, report published 18 September 2024
- Overall effectiveness
- Good
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form provision
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Met
What Ofsted said
From the inspection on 2 July 2024
The school has its core values of respect, courage, happiness, ambition and pride at the heart of everything that it does. Pupils enjoy coming to school. They are happy here. The school has thought carefully about what it wants pupils to learn. The curriculum is designed to be ambitious for all pupils. Leaders and staff sensitively devise and adapt appropriate curriculum pathways that meet pupils' specific needs and enable them to achieve positive outcomes. Behaviour is a real strength of the school. Pupils support each other kindly, inside and outside of lessons. They know that they are working together to achieve success. Relationships between staff and pupils are also very positive. The school works well to ensure that pupils and their families know the importance of coming to school every day. Attendance is high and pupils are kept safe. Promoting each pupil's personal development is a key thread that runs through the whole school. Leaders want to prepare pupils for their future life in the wider world. This aim is realised well. For example, pupils learn how to prepare meals in their cookery lessons. They also enjoy, and are proud of what they achieve through, their work experience placements.
What the school should improve
- While pupils are well supported overall in the development of their reading, some aspects of the school's work are not, at present, fully established. This means pupils are not developing their confidence in and enthusiasm for reading as well as they could be. The school should continue to work on embedding its new approach to phonics to maximise how well it supports pupils to get better at reading.
- New approaches to the curriculum in the sixth form are not fully established. While students' outcomes are positive overall, there are times when the curriculum is not supporting them to achieve as highly as they could. The school should provide training for staff so that the new curriculum is consistently well implemented and, in turn, strengthen students' outcomes.
Pupil numbers and mix
140 pupils on roll, with places for 139
Schools near Priory School
| School | Distance | Ofsted | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maypole School (Leigham Court) | 2 miles | Ofsted: Good | Not published |
| The Livity School | 2 miles | Ofsted: Good | 0% met the expected standard |
| Beckmead College | 2 miles | Ofsted: Good | Attainment 8: 7.1 |
| Bensham Manor School | 2 miles | Ofsted: Outstanding | Attainment 8: 3.5 |
| Turney Primary and Secondary Special School | 2 miles | Ofsted judgements: Good | 0% met the expected standard |
School details
- School type
- Community special school
- Sector
- Local authority maintained
- Age range
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Julie Evans
- Phone
- 02086538222
- Address
- Hermitage Road, Upper Norwood, London, SE19 3QN
- Local authority
- Croydon
- URN
- 101856
School details from Get Information about Schools, 17 September 2026. Ofsted outcomes published to 31 August 2026. Pupil mix from the school census, 2025/26.