St Matthew's CofE Primary School

About St Matthew's CofE Primary School

St Matthew's CofE Primary School in Trafford holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained across both its most recent inspections. The school's most telling academic metric comes from the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, where just 38% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. This places the school well below the Trafford local authority average of 71% and ranks it 54th out of 55 primary schools in the borough, putting it in the bottom 50 nationally. The picture is mixed when you look at individual subjects: 76% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, and 59% did so in writing, but only 48% achieved that benchmark in maths. At the higher standard, the gap is even starker — 21% hit the higher bar in reading, compared with just 7% in maths and 3% in writing. The average maths score was 99, while reading averaged 105.

The school's Ofsted history shows consistency rather than improvement. Its graded inspection in 2017 rated overall effectiveness, leadership and management, and early years provision all as Good, and an ungraded inspection in 2022 confirmed the school remained Good. That 2022 visit noted early years provision was still Good, and leadership and management remained Good. The school has 153 pupils on roll against a capacity of 235, so there is significant spare capacity. A third of pupils (33.6%) are eligible for free school meals, which is well above the national average and suggests the school serves a relatively disadvantaged catchment. There is no Progress 8 data available for this primary school, so it is not possible to say how much value the school adds compared with pupils' starting points.

St Matthew's is a Church of England primary for children aged 3 to 11, with nursery provision on site. It offers a range of facilities including an ICT suite, a forest school area, playing fields, a sensory room and a chapel. Sports on offer include swimming, netball, cricket and rounders, and there are clubs for drama, art and eco activities. The school has a broad SEND offer, with provisions for dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. For the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed: 34 applications for 9 places, a ratio of 3.78 to one, though all 9 first-preference applicants were offered a place. This is a small, inclusive school that may suit families looking for a church-based setting with strong SEND support, but those prioritising academic outcomes at the expected standard may want to look at higher-performing local options such as St Vincent's Catholic Primary or Park Road Academy.

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