St Richard's RC Primary School

About St Richard's RC Primary School

St Richard's RC Primary School is a popular choice among Manchester families, and the numbers back that up. For the 2025/26 reception intake, the school received 142 applications for just 60 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.37. Of those, 65 families put it as their first preference, and all 60 first-preference applicants were offered a place. That level of demand suggests a strong local reputation, though the school doesn't publish a parent satisfaction survey score to confirm it directly. The school is a Roman Catholic state primary for children aged 3 to 11, with a nursery on site, and it currently has 468 pupils on roll, just four shy of its full capacity of 472. Headteacher Jonathan Murray leads a school where just over half of pupils (51.9%) are eligible for free school meals, a figure well above the national average.

Academically, St Richard's performs strongly. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 tests, 75% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, comfortably above the Manchester local authority average of 57%. That result places the school 10th out of 122 primary schools in the borough, putting it in the top 10% locally and the top 25% nationally. At the higher standard, 13% of pupils achieved that level across all three subjects. Individual subject scores were solid: 93% met expectations in maths, 92% in reading, and 79% in writing. Average scaled scores were 109 in both reading and maths. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in June 2024, the school was rated Good overall, with behaviour and attitudes judged Outstanding. This is a downgrade from its previous Outstanding rating in 2012, but the inspection report noted strong leadership and management also rated Good.

The school offers a broad range of facilities, including a Forest School, sports hall, sensory room, playing fields, ICT suite, library, music rooms, art studios and a chapel. Sports on offer include tennis, swimming, cricket and dance, while clubs range from gardening and eco club to drama, book club, film club and choir. The school's SEND provision is comprehensive, supporting pupils with moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, autistic spectrum disorder and other difficulties. This makes it a strong option for families seeking a mainstream setting with a wide safety net of support. Given its oversubscription, Catholic families with a regular church connection will likely have the strongest chance of securing a place, though the school's high FSM intake suggests it serves a genuinely diverse community.

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