St Malachy's RC Primary School

About St Malachy's RC Primary School

St Malachy's RC Primary School in Manchester has been rated Good by Ofsted following its most recent graded inspection in 2014, and a subsequent ungraded inspection in 2023 confirmed the school remains Good. This represents a clear improvement from its previous graded inspection in 2012, when it was rated Requires Improvement. The school’s leadership and management are also rated Good. On the most informative exam metric available, Key Stage 2 outcomes for the 2023/24 academic year, 63% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is six percentage points above the Manchester local authority average of 57%, placing St Malachy's 36th out of 122 primary schools in the borough and in the top 50% nationally. The school’s ranking score of 63 puts it in the top tier of Manchester primaries, though it sits behind local peers such as Didsbury CofE Primary and Brookburn Community School.

Digging deeper into the KS2 results, the school’s strongest individual subject was reading, where 77% of pupils reached the expected standard and 33% achieved a higher standard. In maths, 80% hit the expected level and 23% reached the higher standard, while in writing 80% met the expected standard and 13% achieved the higher mark. Average scaled scores were 105 in reading and 104 in maths, both slightly above the national average of 100. Only 7% of pupils reached the higher standard across all three subjects, which is a relatively low figure and suggests that while most children are meeting expectations, fewer are exceeding them at the highest level. The school does not have a sixth form, and its Progress 8 scores are not available, so it is not possible to assess how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points.

St Malachy's is a Roman Catholic primary for children aged 3 to 11, with nursery provision on site. It has capacity for 242 pupils but currently enrols 218, so there is some room. However, the school is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, it received 50 applications for 21 places, with all 21 first-preference applicants offered a spot, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.38. The school serves a community with a high level of disadvantage, as 55.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Facilities include playing fields, a sports hall, gymnasium, art studios, a chapel and a forest school. SEND provision covers moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, and hearing impairment. Clubs include science, chess, drama and film club, while sports on offer are netball, cross country, athletics, swimming and rounders. This is a solid, improving primary that suits families seeking a faith-based school with strong core outcomes and a broad range of activities.

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