Ashbury Meadow Primary School

About Ashbury Meadow Primary School

Ashbury Meadow Primary School sits within the Manchester local authority, a large and diverse primary landscape where 137 schools compete for attention. The school currently ranks 99th out of 122 in the LA, placing it in the bottom half of Manchester primaries. For context, the top-performing local peers include Didsbury CofE Primary School, Brookburn Community School, and Rack House Primary School, all of which score significantly higher on the key stage 2 benchmark. Ashbury Meadow is a mixed, state-funded primary for children aged 3 to 11, with a nursery on site. It is led by headteacher Neil Long and serves a community where 45.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average. The school is oversubscribed for 2025/26, receiving 94 applications for 52 places, with 50 first-preference offers made. That level of demand suggests it remains a popular choice locally, despite its middling ranking.

Academically, Ashbury Meadow’s most recent Ofsted inspection in February 2025 rated the school as Requires Improvement overall, a notable drop from its previous Outstanding rating in 2015. The inspection found that quality of education, early years provision, and leadership and management all require improvement, while behaviour and attitudes and personal development were judged Good. At key stage 2 in 2023/24, just 47% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with the Manchester LA average of 57%. Only 5% achieved the higher standard in all three subjects. Individual subject scores were mixed: 64% met the expected standard in maths and 59% in reading, but writing lagged at 56%. Average scaled scores in reading and maths both sat at 104. The school ranks in the bottom 50 nationally on this measure, placing 11,461 out of 13,686 primary schools.

On the ground, Ashbury Meadow offers a solid range of facilities including a sports hall, playing fields, an ICT suite, a library, art studios, and a forest school. There is also a chapel on site. Clubs include drama, science club, eco club and choir, while sports provision covers netball, football, athletics and tennis. The school has a resourced provision and supports children with specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and hearing impairments. Parent View responses from 42 families between September 2024 and September 2025 were overwhelmingly positive: 93% would recommend the school, 96% agreed their child is happy, and 97% felt their child does well. The nearest Outstanding-rated alternative is Armitage CofE Primary School, 1.1 km away. This school will suit families who value a strong sense of community and pastoral care, and who are comfortable with a school that is still working to raise its academic outcomes.

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