Thomas More Catholic School

Thomas More Catholic School has successfully maintained its good standards since its last inspection in 2019, demonstrating effective action in various areas. The school provides a supportive and respectful environment where pupils thrive academically and personally. With a broad curriculum tailored to meet the needs of students, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), pupils generally achieve well across qualifications while enjoying extracurricular activities that enhance their learning experience.

Strengths

• Pupils are courteous and respectful.
• Teachers provide clear support and guidance.
• The curriculum is broad and enables achievement across various qualifications.
• Pupils engage well with reading and literature.
• Leaders identify and support pupils with SEND effectively.

Areas for Improvement

• Systematic checks on the effectiveness of support for pupils with SEND are lacking.
• Misunderstandings in pupils' knowledge are not always identified before moving on to new content.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Thomas More Catholic School attended 91.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 25.0% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 10.0% of pupils at Thomas More Catholic School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Thomas More Catholic School had 16.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 12.2% of pupils at Thomas More Catholic School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Thomas More Catholic School received £11,196 and spent £10,732 for each of its 599 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,000 (£4 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Croydon · Croydon local authority: places and applications

What is Thomas More Catholic School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Thomas More Catholic School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Thomas More Catholic School last inspected by Ofsted?

Thomas More Catholic School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Thomas More Catholic School have?

Thomas More Catholic School has 599 pupils on roll.

What age range does Thomas More Catholic School cover?

Thomas More Catholic School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Thomas More Catholic School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 46.0, and 43% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Thomas More Catholic School?

Thomas More Catholic School is at Russell Hill Road, Purley, Surrey, CR8 2XP.