Riddlesdown Collegiate (formerly Riddlesdown High School) is a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

with academy status located in the Riddlesdown area of the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough, borough in South London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of and had a population of 397,741 as of mid-2023, making it the most populous London borough. It is London's southernmost ...

, 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 a village in South 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 now has the character of a suburb and sits at a high e ...

, Purley,

Kenley Kenley is a suburb within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located south of Charing Cross and within the southern boundary of London, England. Surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt on three sides, it includes the large open spaces of K ...

New Addington New Addington is an area of South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon and is adjacent to the Greater London boundary with Surrey. History Until the 1930s, the area now known as New ...

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 E ...

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. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupil ...

. 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 m ...

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 1 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 department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

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

Kate Moss Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is an English model. Arriving towards the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her t ...

, supermodel, 1985–1990 * Rickie Haywood Williams, 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 comedy '' Dani's House'' (2008–2012), the E4 drama '' Skins'' (2009–2010), the Nickelodeon series ''House of Anubis'' (2011� ...

, actress, 2000–2005 *

Kieran Gibbs Kieran James Ricardo Gibbs (born 26 September 1989) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, left-back. Gibbs began his senior career with Arsenal F.C., Arsena ...

, footballer, 2001–2006 * Lucy Hutchinson (actress), actress

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