Croydon is making great strides in education, with pupils now outperforming others across the country in several areas as standards continue to improve.
The latest statistics – published in a cabinet report – show children get off to a great start in Croydon schools, with the percentage (73 per cent) achieving a Good Level of Development (GLD) at age four and five now higher than UK and London averages. This is a significant rise from last year (3 per cent), despite Croydon assessing more children (5052) at that age than any other borough in London.
Children also do well at Key Stage 1, with the percentage of pupils achieving the expected standard and the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics above the national average. At Key Stage 2, the percentage of pupils achieving above the expected standard was also above the national average. Meanwhile Ofsted has now judged 86 per cent of Croydon primary schools to be good or better. Croydon Council has also received a letter from Nick Gibb, Secretary of State for Schools, which identified Croydon as one of the top 10 improved local authorities for Key Stage 1 phonics screening check outcomes.
There is also good news at secondary level, as statistics show that the number of pupils achieving English and mathematics combined GCSE grade 9-4 is now above the national average. At Key Stage 5, Level 3 learners achieve better than statistical neighbours, UK and London averages. This comes as Croydon has its highest proportion – 90 per cent – of secondary schools judged to be good or better. And with standards on the rise, demand is increasing – with admissions data showing a record number of parents chose a Croydon secondary school this year.
“It’s great to see more Croydon schools and pupils performing well, more schools receiving a good or better judgement, and more parents choosing them for their children. Education in our borough is definitely on the up.
“Our Choose Your Future campaign is about supporting young people to make positive choices in life and give them the opportunity to follow their dreams.
“Making sure every child and young person has access to a good education is one of the most important thing we can do help them achieve this, and to make our borough a fairer place.
“Croydon is making great strides in education, and these latest statistics show real improvement. But we are not complacent – we want to keep improving and work with all schools to drive progress and to support young people throughout their journey.”
Councillor Alisa Flemming, cabinet member for children, young people and learning
