The school educates students from ages 11 to 16. de Stafford is close to the centre of the scattered town of Caterham, bordering on two sides the south-western part of the London Borough of Croydon.

Acting as a preliminary school to more advanced, applied or theoretical studies at further education colleges, the nearest such state-supported institutions are in Purley, Croydon and Redhill.

The school has its origins in this institution and derives its name from a wealthy and politically influential mediaeval noble who owned one of the manors of the former village in 1372, Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, whose wealthy wife Margaret de Audley, 2nd Baroness Audley owned as co-heir a large set of estates before their marriage, including this land.

[2] Due to a franchised sixth form in Purley included in the roll in 2003, the number of students at the time of that inspection was 990.

The school is connected by bus to the most significant residential estates of the settlements surrounding Caterham and to the largest mixed use urban areas, such as Croydon, Coulsdon and Purley town centres.