Oasis Academy Arena Review 2026: A small Croydon secondary with improving routines and a strong community focus

Small schools can feel more personal, and that is part of the appeal here. Opened in September 2015, Oasis Academy Arena was designed to meet demand for secondary places locally, but it has deliberately leaned into a smaller, more contained feel over time, including a move to set the Year 7 published admissions number at 120 from the September 2026 intake.

Leadership is also relatively new. The current Principal is Mrs Jeanette Bell, who took up post in September 2023. Official monitoring in July 2025 describes progress since the previous inspection, with a clear emphasis on improving reading and embedding curriculum improvements more consistently.

For families, the headline is simple. This is a state secondary for students aged 11 to 16, with no tuition fees, and a structured school day that ends at 3:00 pm on most days and 2:00 pm on Wednesdays, with enrichment running afterwards. A free breakfast offer, delivered in partnership with Magic Breakfast, is another practical feature that matters to day to day routine and readiness to learn.

Structure is a defining feature. The academy sets out an organised start to the day, including a daily meet and greet from senior staff and a line up system at key transition points. That approach is not just about logistics. It is designed to make corridors and lesson starts calmer, and to reduce the low level disruption that can erode learning time in busy secondaries.

The wider culture is framed through Oasis language around character, including the Oasis 9 Habits, which are used across the trust. Students are explicitly taught habits such as humility and honesty as part of personal development, and this is reinforced through trips and activities. For parents, the practical implication is that “character education” is not a poster on a wall. It is intended to be taught, revisited, and linked to behaviour expectations.

Community also sits high in the academy’s identity. As part of the Oasis Hub Ashburton Park, the school positions itself within a wider set of local services and partnerships, including youth work and community projects. In a borough where families often weigh school choice alongside transport, childcare, and local support networks, this joined up approach can be a meaningful strength if it is aligned to what your child needs.

Leadership stability is still building. There have been significant changes to senior roles since late 2023, and the academy is clear that it is in an improvement phase rather than a finished product. For families, the question is whether your child will thrive in a school where routines are being tightened and expectations raised, rather than one where long term performance and culture have been settled for years.

The performance picture points to outcomes that are below England average overall.

Ranked 3,375th in England and 33rd in Croydon for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), the academy sits below England average, placing it within the bottom 40% of schools in England on this measure.

The underlying indicators reinforce that message:

• Attainment 8 score: 35.2

• Progress 8 score: -0.5

• EBacc average point score: 3.32 (England average: 4.08)

• Percentage achieving grades 5 or above across the EBacc: 8

What that means in practice is that academic improvement is not a marginal adjustment. The school is working to lift consistency in classroom learning, and the ambition is to move outcomes forward rather than maintain an already high baseline.

The academy’s improvement plan is particularly relevant if you have a child who is a weaker reader on entry. Reading identification and targeted support are clearly part of the strategy, and the more important question for parents is how consistently subject teachers adapt tasks and explanations so that reading ability does not become a barrier across the curriculum.

For families comparing local options, the FindMySchool Local Hub page can be useful for viewing GCSE indicators side by side with nearby Croydon secondaries using the Comparison Tool, especially where schools have similar intakes but different trajectories.

The curriculum is framed as broad and ambitious, with a standard secondary subject offer including English, mathematics, sciences, humanities, modern foreign languages, creative subjects, and physical education. The key issue is not whether subjects exist, it is whether teaching and checking for understanding are applied consistently enough that students build secure knowledge over time.

The latest graded inspection in November 2023 judged the academy Requires Improvement overall, with Good judgements for Behaviour and Attitudes and for Personal Development.

From a parent perspective, the most useful detail is the repeated emphasis on consistency. Strong teaching moments are described, including effective questioning and clear explanations, but variability still matters if your child needs predictability and secure routines for learning to stick.

A monitoring inspection in July 2025 reported progress since 2023, while also identifying reading and deeper learning as priorities that still need further work. The implication is that this is a school you should assess on trajectory and the strength of systems, as much as on historic exam outcomes.

Where Students Go Next

Because this is an 11 to 16 school, every student will make a transition decision at 16. That changes the way parents should think about fit.

A strong 11 to 16 can suit families who want a contained secondary phase and then a deliberate choice of sixth form college, school sixth form, or apprenticeship route. It also means the school’s careers education, information, advice and guidance becomes more important. Work experience and mentoring are part of the picture, and the academy presents this as a way to help students make informed post 16 choices.

For many Croydon families, the practical question is what the most realistic post 16 options look like for your child. If your child is academically oriented, you will want to understand how the academy supports GCSE subject selection, revision planning, and next step applications. If your child is more vocationally focused, you will want to understand employer engagement and how technical pathways are presented alongside A level routes.

Year 7 places are allocated through the Pan London coordinated admissions process using your home local authority’s Common Application Form, and the academy states that no supplementary form is required.

For September 2026 entry, the determined admissions arrangements set the published admissions number at 120 for Year 7. That matters for two reasons. First, it signals an intentional decision to operate at a smaller scale. Second, it can affect the availability of places across year groups in future years.

Demand is high relative to offers for the available entry route snapshot. There were 112 applications for 35 offers, which equates to 3.2 applications per place, and the school is listed as oversubscribed on this measure. Securing entry is where the difficulty lies, rather than the application mechanics.

Oversubscription is decided through the published criteria, including looked after children, children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the academy, and sibling priority, before distance is used as a tie break. The academy describes the use of a computerised measuring system for distance calculations.

Key dates are best taken from the local authority timetable and the academy’s admissions arrangements. For the September 2026 intake, the published documents reference the statutory application deadline after 31 October 2025, with offers communicated in early March 2026. If you are looking beyond that cycle, treat those dates as a pattern rather than as current deadlines and check the latest Croydon timetable.

Open events are typically in early autumn for secondary entry. For the September 2026 intake cycle, Croydon’s published open events timetable lists a September open evening and Thursday morning tours running into half term. The academy also offers tours on request during term time, which can be helpful for families who missed the main open evening window.

If distance is likely to be decisive for your application, use the FindMySchoolMap Search tool to check your home location precisely against the academy gates, and then compare to the latest published local authority cut offs for similar schools in the area.

Pastoral systems are closely tied to the academy’s approach to routine and expectations. The daily meet and greet, tutor group structures, and escorted movement at key moments are designed to reduce disruption and help students feel secure about what happens next.

Wellbeing is also positioned as a visible priority. Students are taught about safety, including online safety, and the academy uses a personal development curriculum that explicitly builds social and emotional skills.

There is also an inclusion dimension that may matter for some families. The graded inspection documentation notes a specially resourced provision supporting pupils with autism, and the academy’s staffing structure includes a senior leader responsible for inclusion and SEND. If your child has additional needs, it is worth asking how support is delivered in mainstream classrooms as well as in specialist settings, and how communication with families is managed when plans need adapting.

The free breakfast club is a practical pastoral feature with a direct learning implication. A reliable breakfast offer supports punctuality and concentration, and it can reduce morning pressure for families balancing multiple children or early work starts.

Extracurricular provision is a meaningful part of the offer here, particularly because the school day has a defined enrichment slot after lessons.

The published enrichment timetable includes a strong sport strand, with basketball across multiple days, badminton in the sports hall, and football delivered through external partnerships such as Palace for Life and Reaching Higher. That is useful for students who need structured activity after 3:00 pm, and for families who want their child’s social life to be anchored in school rather than in unstructured time outside.

There is also an academic enrichment element. The academy references access to The Brilliant Club Scholars Programme, which is designed to give pupils a taste of university style learning supported by a PhD tutor and linked to visits to highly selective universities. For academically curious students, that kind of programme can broaden aspiration and provide a different type of classroom experience.

The most distinctive detail is that clubs are not limited to standard sports and performance options. The latest prospectus references student take up of clubs such as Eco School Club, Crochet Club, and Crafts Club. These quieter clubs can be important for students who find large group sport less appealing but still want a structured social setting.

Trips and cultural visits are also part of the picture. The prospectus references visits to places such as London Zoo and museums, which are typical of a school aiming to broaden experience beyond the local area.

The academy operates from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm during term time, with a timetable built around six lessons per day. Students line up in tutor groups at key points, and the published structure sets the school day finish at 3:00 pm on most days and 2:00 pm on Wednesdays, followed by enrichment clubs from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

A free breakfast club runs in the morning from 7:50 am to 8:20 am.

In terms of visits, the academy offers weekday tours by request during term time, including SEND tours. For local families, South Norwood transport connections and bus routes will be part of the decision, and it is sensible to test the journey at the actual start and finish times on at least one weekday.

• Outcomes are an improvement priority. The data points to below average performance in England on GCSE measures, including a Progress 8 score of -0.5. Families should ask what has changed since 2023, and how progress is tracked across subjects, not just at Year 11.

• This is an 11 to 16 school. Every student transitions elsewhere at 16. That suits families who want a deliberate post 16 choice; it adds planning pressure for those who prefer a single school journey through to Year 13.

• Entry can be competitive. The dataset shows 112 applications for 35 offers in the relevant admissions snapshot, and the school is marked as oversubscribed on that measure. Have a realistic Plan B.

• Consistency is still being embedded. Improvement work has a clear direction, including a focus on reading and deeper learning. The question for parents is whether your child will benefit from that momentum, or whether they need a more settled academic environment right now.

Oasis Academy Arena is a small Croydon secondary that is deliberately tightening routines and building consistency, with visible attention to student wellbeing and community links. It will suit families who value a structured day, a clear behaviour framework, and a school that is candid about being on an improvement journey. The limiting factor is admission, and for those who secure a place, the key decision is whether the trajectory and support systems match what your child needs for strong GCSE progress.