Croydon High School is an independent, fee-paying day school for girls aged 3 to 18 in Selsdon, South Croydon, on the southern edge of London. It was founded in 1874 and belongs to the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST). For international families, the essentials to know up front are: it is a girls-only day school with no boarding, it runs continuously from Nursery to Sixth Form, and there is no separate international admissions track — families apply through the same process as domestic applicants and arrange their own housing and guardianship in London. This guide draws only on the school’s official website as accessed on August 5, 2026; fees are the published 2026/27 term rates and dates refer to September 2027 entry unless stated otherwise.
School Profile and Location
Croydon High School sits at Old Farleigh Road, Selsdon, South Croydon CR2 8YB, in the London Borough of Croydon. Despite the Croydon name, the school has been based in Selsdon since 1966, in what the website describes as a quiet, pleasant town in the borough’s southern suburbs. The school is a member of the Girls’ Day School Trust, a charitable organisation the website says covers 25 schools and two academies across England and Wales, with income reinvested in teaching.
The school is organised in four stages: Nursery for girls from the term they turn 3 (ages 3 to 4), Junior School for ages 4 to 11, Senior School for ages 11 to 16, and Sixth Form for ages 16 to 18. Because it is one continuous school, a girl can progress from Nursery straight through to Sixth Form without changing schools. The website’s own reported results for 2025 are 55 percent of A Level grades at A* to A (21 percent at A*) and 31 percent of GCSE grades at the top Grade 9; these are the school’s own figures, useful as a sense of academic positioning but not a guarantee of any individual outcome.
Programs: From Nursery to Sixth Form
Croydon High School’s academic programme builds stage by stage. Nursery entry is informal, with a play-based session and no formal test. The Junior School focuses on early reading, writing and numeracy. In the Senior School, Years 7 to 9 pupils study English, biology, chemistry, physics, enterprise technology, history, geography, philosophy and ethics, music, drama, art, 3D design and physical education. Mathematics is taught in ability sets from early in Year 7, almost all pupils take two modern foreign languages chosen from French, German and Spanish, and Latin is taught to all from Year 7. Enterprise Technology, offered since September 2018, combines programming with project management, teamwork and creativity. The school has a 25-metre pool on site, and swimming is a curriculum subject up to Year 9.
At GCSE, pupils choose options during Year 9, with the majority studying up to 10 subjects; the core is English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The school also runs a Learning Support department for mild specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia and attention difficulties, with most needs met through differentiated classroom teaching.
The Sixth Form at Croydon High School offers 25 different A Level options. Most girls study three A Levels plus an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ); those with a strong GCSE profile, or who want Further Maths, may take four. The school explains that even the most competitive universities offer places on the basis of three A Levels, and that three subjects leave time for the co-curricular programme. Sixth Form students also complete the Neligan Programme — named after the school’s first headmistress — which combines the EPQ, MOOCs or Open University modules, subject competitions, lectures, mentoring and leadership activities, with achievements recorded on the Unifrog platform ahead of university applications.
Entry Requirements and Key Dates
Croydon High School runs one admissions process for all applicants, international families included. A non-refundable registration fee of £150 is charged with the online application, and a deposit of £750 is payable when a place is accepted and held until the end of the pupil’s final term.
Nursery and Junior School entry is low-pressure. Nursery girls join from the term they turn 3; assessment is an informal play session of about 2.5 hours led by an Early Years teacher, with entrance testing held in the spring term before entry. Junior School assessments usually take place in January for September entry: Reception applicants join small-group play activities, Years 1 to 3 are assessed in the classroom, and Years 4 to 6 sit online assessments in the morning and spend the afternoon in class. A place offered in Years 4 to 6 includes automatic transition into the Senior School.
For Year 7 entry, applicants sit an adaptive online test on the day, designed to assess numeracy, problem-solving and vocabulary; the website says no special preparation is needed. For September 2027 entry, the Year 7 application deadline is Monday 19 October 2026, testing runs from 12 October 2026, offers are issued by Christmas 2026, and the acceptance deadline is Friday 5 March 2027. Year 9 entry for September 2027 closes on Friday 11 December 2026, with testing on Wednesday 3 February 2027. Academic scholarships are considered automatically from entrance test performance; no separate application is needed.
Sixth Form entry requires passes in a minimum of six GCSE subjects at Grade B or Grade 6 or above, an interview for every applicant, and a reference from the current school. For September 2027 entry, the application deadline is Friday 9 October 2026, entrance interviews are held on Friday 13 November 2026, the entrance assessment on Saturday 14 November 2026, offers are issued on 9 December 2026, and the acceptance deadline is 29 January 2027.
Fees and What They Cover
Croydon High School publishes 2026/27 fees per term, inclusive of VAT. Nursery full-time is £4,419 per term, rising to £4,725 with the £306 lunch fee; Reception is £5,910 (£6,216 with lunch); Years 1 to 2 £6,071 (£6,377); Years 3 to 4 £6,628 (£6,934); Years 5 to 6 £6,737 (£7,043); Years 7 to 9 £8,211 (£8,517); Year 10 £8,516 (£8,822); and Years 11 to 13 £8,516, with no lunch fee. Lunch is £306 per term and compulsory up to Year 10.
The fees cover the regular curriculum, school books, stationery and materials, choral music, games and swimming, and careers guidance. They do not cover lunches, public examination fees (charged transparently according to the subjects taken at GCSE, IGCSE, AS and A Level), or extra-curricular music and speech and drama lessons. Payment is by Direct Debit, either annually, termly, or in four equal monthly instalments per term. Parents may also be eligible for the government grant covering 15 hours of early education from the term after a daughter’s third birthday, deducted at source by the GDST.
Application Support and Planning for International Families
For international families, planning starts before the application form. Croydon High School hosts Open Days and Taster Days throughout the year — Taster Days are available from Year 5 for girls considering Year 7 — and recent events listed on the website include a Senior School Open Evening on Thursday 11 June 2026 and an Open Morning on Saturday 10 October 2026. Transport around the Selsdon site is well served: the nearest railway stations are South Croydon and Sanderstead, the East Croydon hub is about 20 minutes away by bus, and the nearest tram stop is at Gravel Hill. Pupils aged 11 to 16 living within the London Borough of Croydon travel free on buses and trams; bus routes 433, 64, 409, 359 and 412 stop within a short walk of the school, and the school operates several minibus routes.
Two practical points matter most for families arriving from abroad. First, there is no boarding: accommodation and guardianship arrangements in London are the family’s responsibility, and the school website carries no dedicated international admissions page. Second, visa and legal eligibility are matters for UK government channels; the school’s own site is not the authority on those, so families should confirm current requirements through official sources. All facts above are bounded by the school’s official website as accessed on August 5, 2026, and entry grades, dates and fees should be checked against the latest version of the site. If you would like to weigh your child’s age, language level and school preferences together, our advisers can walk through programme fit, timing and preparation with you.