Sixth Form FAQs | Croydon High School

  • We accept girls from ages 16-18. We also have a Nursery School available for girls aged 3-4, Junior School for girls aged 4-11 and Senior School for girls aged 11-16.

  • Our Sixth Form team consists of experts in their field who are committed to nurturing academic excellence in each student. Offering a flexible and individualised programme of study, our curriculum comprises 25 different A-level options which showcase the diversity of interest and ambition in our Sixth Form community.

    We encourage each student to study three subjects during their time at Sixth Form, as this is the minimum requirement for acceptance at most universities. Studying three subjects also gives students the time to make the most of our busy and diverse co-curricular programme.

    For an in-depth guide into our Sixth Form curriculum, read our Sixth Form course guide, where you will find an overview of the course along with the entry requirements.

  • Full details of the application process are in our Sixth Form Admissions Guide

    If you require any specific information, please contact our Sixth Form admissions registrar, Clare Macmillan at sixthform@cry.gdst.net

    If you have any specific questions regarding Sixth Form provision, please email sixthform@cry.gdst.net and your questions will be forwarded to Ms Gilmour.

    Applications for the Sixth Form can be made online.

  • Scholarship entry is open to all Year 11 pupils at Croydon High School and to pupils from other schools who have expressed a desire to join our Sixth Form.

    Applicants apply for scholarships which will be assessed mid-November each year.

    Full details of the Scholarships (including Performance Scholarships in Art, Music, Theatre Studies and Sport and Exhibition Awards) can be found here.

    Please note that applications close on at the end of October each year

    See all the key dates for each year (once available).

  • No, you do not need to apply and it is expected that those who meet our entry requirements will transfer smoothly from Upper School to Sixth Form.

  • There is a minimum requirement of 40 points accrued across the six highest GCSE grades to enter the Sixth Form at Croydon High. Subject requirements vary and are detailed in our Sixth Form Course Guide.

  • All information is detailed in the Sixth Form Course Guide.

  • A Destinations chart is included in the admissions guides; our girls go on to study a wide range of courses at some of the best universities in the country.

    There is an increasing interest in the apprenticeship route and we are extremely well placed to support girls in this though our outstanding careers and networking initiatives and strong alumnae relations.

  • Croydon High School aims to provide academic challenge, extensive enrichment and a unique education for remarkable girls.

    The school creates a learning experience that is characterised by academic adventure and wide ranging opportunities to excel.  We aim to achieve that crucial balance between challenge and personalised support, delivered by a passionate and dedicated staff body for whom the girls are always the first priority. We work together with a common purpose; to ensure that girls joining Croydon High will leave us as confident, engaged, compassionate and ambitious young women.

    1) Academic excellence and challenge, particularly at the high end – our academic elite is well catered for and highly successful. Our teaching staff is committed to maintaining a strong dialogue about teaching and learning to ensure our methods and resources are relevant, up to date and future-proofed.

    2) Pastorally very strong indeed as our well-deserved reputation will suggest. We know each girl individually and cater to them as such – they are known and understood as learners, as sportswomen / musicians / performers and the support put in place for pupils is highly personalised. This is an incredible strength of the school.

    3) An excellent all-round education with opportunities in every arena. The school provides modern purpose built accommodation with wonderful sports facilities, including floodlit netball and tennis courts, swimming pool and a sports pavilion overlooking the floodlit all-weather surface hockey pitch. Our Drama, Music and Art facilities are equally impressive, with opportunities for the girls to discover passions for these subjects – and much more both within and outside of the curriculum.

    4) Careers’ advice and support – an exceptional programme of support to ensure girls’ make good and sensible choices. Girls Inspiring Girls is much more than a hashtag at Croydon High – it is a mantra that resonates with our own girls as they strive to inspire the younger pupils and also through our vibrant alumnae network – The Ivy Link.

    5) Throughout the year, our alumnae come back as guest speakers, offer work experience programmes and provide networking opportunities and truly enriching this aspect of school life.

  • Exceptional – we are recognised particularly for the quality of our pastoral care. Excellent relationships between teachers and students lies at the heart of it – a staff body that cares and puts girls first (Every Girl, Every Day was born from this premise.) We have a number of school initiatives which are designed to help all of us maintain good mental health details below:

    Positive Project – A GDST wide undertaking. A clinically driven project aiming to equip us all with ways to understand when and why we experience individual emotions, and what we can do to mitigate the unwanted ones. It encourages students to develop their emotional literacy, giving them tools to intervene.’ Staff centrally trained and we have begun using these tools in Junior and Lower School. The project is being introduced slowly so that it embeds fully.

    Counselling – we have two services available for pupils. One is linked to CAMHS (Children and Adolescents Mental Health Services), offering a talking based therapy. The other is provided by established school counselling organisation Place2Be, offering a range of predominantly art-based approaches. The latter offers a drop in service for pupils two days a week, and both run longer, scheduled one-one support with the inclusion of parents. For more information, please contact Clare Macmillan c.macmillan@cry.gdst.net who will happily pass on your query in confidence, or arrange a conversation with Mr King, Deputy Head (Pastoral)

  • We have a School Nurse on the school site. If you have any specific questions regarding the health/medical provision we provide for the girls at the school, or if your daughter has a medical or dietary requirements that you wish to discuss before applying to the school, please email your questions ( in complete confidence) to sixthform@cry.gdst.net

    • The school operates a number of minibus routes and we will always endeavour to accommodate new requests within our existing network, or, where significant demand arises to introduce new routes.
    • Currently a return journey currently costs £7.21 per day with a single charged at £4.63 and we offer return routes from the following areas: Banstead, Caterham, Coulsdon, Oxted, Wallington, Norbury, Shirley Oaks, Penge, Beckenham and Bromley
    • See here for full details of current routes, and to see which route might work best for you.
  • Widely. From Banstead, Wallington, Purley, Beckenham, Westerham, Oxted, Caterham. Increasingly we have interest from the Clapham and Dulwich areas.

  • The school is one of 25 in the Girls Day School Trust, the UK’s leading network of independent girls’ schools, educating over 19,000 students. A registered charity, the GDST invests heavily in capital projects and naturally school fees contribute towards a large part of the costs of running the school.

  • The school is significantly supported with refurbishment by the GDST who re-invest all profits in to their schools to improve facilities for the pupils. We have a rolling programme of improvements and some areas are currently undergoing extensive improvement, including the Junior School and the creation of an Eco Garden in the central courtyard.

    The school also raises funds via appeals to alumnae and monies raised from this are currently directed to providing additional bursary awards, to increase opportunities for girls to join us.

  • Fees are set centrally, with input from Heads, by the GDST