Castle Hill Academy

Castle Hill Academy has shown a solid performance since its opening, achieving a 'Good' rating across various domains during its first inspection. The school offers a nurturing environment where pupils feel happy and well cared for, with strong progress noted in literacy and numeracy. Leaders have implemented necessary changes to enhance the quality of education, encouraging pupils to take ownership of their learning and strive for academic success. Notably, the school supports pupils with special educational needs and disabilities effectively, helping them make significant progress from their starting points.

Strengths

• Pupils make strong progress in reading, writing, and mathematics.
• Effective teaching of phonics and reading skills.
• Strong support for pupils with special educational needs.
• Caring school environment that fosters pupil well-being.
• Involvement of pupils in decision-making through committees.
• Strong focus on personal, social, health, and citizenship education.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils require greater opportunities to apply mathematical skills to problem-solving tasks.
• Topic lessons need to be better structured to build on prior knowledge.

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 Castle Hill Academy attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.2% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

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, 1.8% of pupils at Castle Hill Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were 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 Castle Hill Academy had 14.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

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, 21.3% of pupils at Castle Hill Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 20.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

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 primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Castle Hill Academy received £10,356 and spent £11,489 for each of its 275 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £445,000 (-£1,618 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of The Platanos Trust, income was £10,263 and spending £10,232 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

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

Castle Hill Academy is part of The Platanos Trust, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• Winterbourne Boys' Academy Thornton Heath
• Platanos College London

What is Castle Hill Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Castle Hill Academy is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Castle Hill Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Castle Hill Academy was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Castle Hill Academy have?

Castle Hill Academy has 263 pupils on roll.

What age range does Castle Hill Academy cover?

Castle Hill Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Castle Hill Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 58% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Castle Hill Academy?

Castle Hill Academy is at Dunley Drive, New Addington, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 0RJ.