Riddlesdown Collegiate (formerly Riddlesdown High School) is a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

with academy status located in the

Riddlesdown Riddlesdown is a place in the London Borough of Croydon, one mile east from the centre of its post town of Purley. The name applies to the residential district and to the green space maintained by the City of London Corporation which is also ...

area of the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; ...

, UK. It is a coeducational school, of between 1800 and 2000 students (400 of those being post–16 students). The school takes its pupils mainly from the

Sanderstead Sanderstead is a village and medieval-founded church parish at the southern end of Croydon in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, and formerly in the historic county of Surrey, until 1965. It takes in Purley Downs and S ...

Selsdon Selsdon is an area in South-East London, England, located in the London Borough of Croydon, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was in the historic county of Surrey. It is located south of Coombe and Addiscombe, west o ...

, Purley,

Kenley Kenley is an area within the London Borough of Croydon. Prior to its incorporation into Greater London in 1965 it was in the historic county of Surrey. It is situated south of Purley, east of Coulsdon, north of Caterham and Whyteleafe and we ...

New Addington New Addington is a town in South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon, south of Addington Village and north of Biggin Hill. History Until the 1930s, the area now known as New Addingt ...

and

South Croydon South Croydon in south London is the area surrounding the valley south of central Croydon and running as far south as the former Red Deer public house on the Brighton Road. It is bounded by Waddon to the West and Selsdon and Sanderstead to the ...

areas, and specialises in science. Riddlesdown is the largest school in Croydon in terms of pupil numbers, and one of the most over-subscribed schools in the area.

History

Riddlesdown school was built in 1957 and opened in January 1958 as a mixed

secondary modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usually ...

. In 1971 it converted to comprehensive status, reopening as Riddlesdown High School, and remained a local authority mixed comprehensive school until 31 December 1991 when it was give

grant maintained Grant-maintained schools or GM schools were state schools in England and Wales between 1988 and 1998 that had opted out of local government control, being funded directly by a grant from central government. Some of these schools had selective ad ...

status. In 1996, a Sixth Form Centre was established on the site and Riddlesdown became a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In mo ...

under the Bourne Foundation in 1999. In September 2009, the school's name changed from Riddlesdown High School to Riddlesdown Collegiate, featuring six colleges; four of which hold a mixture of years 7–11, a Creative Performing Arts college and a Sixth Form college. The school gained Academy status on 1st June 2012. In 2017, the collegiate was awarded the World-class schools award, one of about 60 in the UK.

Colleges

Each of the six colleges has a distinctive uniform colour variation based on the college colour. Four of the six colleges in the collegiate are 11–16 colleges with another for sixth form (16–19) and a Creative and Performing Arts College.

Ofsted

In a full Section 5

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

inspection in 2016, the school was rated outstanding; however, an initial Section 8 inspection in 2021 suggested that a full inspection might have resulted in a lower rating, necessitating a full inspection next.

Notable alumni

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, supermodel, 1985–1990 *

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, DJ/broadcaster, 1991–1996 *

Nigel Reo-Coker Nigel Shola Andre Reo-Coker (born 14 May 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, as well as a football commentator and pundit for CBS Sports. Reo-Coker came through the youth team ranks at Wimbledon, and h ...

, footballer, 1995–2000 *

Klariza Clayton Klariza L. Clayton (born 9 March 1989) is a British actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the CBBC (TV channel), CBBC comedy ''Dani's House'' (2008–2012), the E4 (TV channel), E4 drama ''Skins (UK TV series), Skins'' (2009–2 ...

, actress, 2000–2005 *

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, footballer, 2001–2006

References

{{authority control Secondary schools in the London Borough of Croydon Educational institutions established in 1958 1958 establishments in England Academies in the London Borough of Croydon