Star Salford Academy

About Star Salford Academy

Star Salford Academy has been rated Good by Ofsted in its most recent inspection, a solid starting point for a school that serves a notably high-needs community. With 60.1% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school’s academic story is best told through its Progress 8 score, which measures how much pupils improve from primary school to GCSEs. The school’s Progress 8 score sits at -0.22, which is exactly in line with the Salford local authority average for secondary schools. This means that, on average, pupils at Star Salford Academy make the same progress as their peers across the borough, despite the school facing higher-than-average levels of disadvantage. The school does not have a sixth form, so its focus is firmly on getting students through to Year 11 with strong GCSE outcomes.

Ofsted’s inspection report highlights that the school’s Good rating is built on a curriculum that is ambitious and well-sequenced, with pupils behaving well and feeling safe. The school’s Progress 8 score of -0.22 places it in the middle of the pack locally, with no secondary schools in Salford rated Outstanding. Compared with its most similar local peers, Star Salford Academy is not among the top-ranked schools in the area — Beis Yaakov High School leads with a ranking score of 0.88 — but it is performing broadly in line with the local average. The school’s capacity is 750, but it currently has just 276 pupils on roll, which is well below capacity. This suggests the school has room to grow and may be a more accessible option for families who find other local schools oversubscribed.

The school is oversubscribed for 2025/26 entry, with 187 applications for 109 places and 97 first-preference offers made from 98 first-preference applications. That gives an oversubscription ratio of 1.72, meaning it is a popular choice locally. Facilities are a real strength: the school has a theatre, swimming pool, gymnasium, sports hall, tennis courts, science labs, music rooms, art studios, and a library. Sports offered include swimming, netball, gymnastics, martial arts, rowing, rounders, and cross country, while clubs range from coding and drama to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and science club. SEND provision is broad, covering dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social and emotional mental health, speech and language needs, hearing and visual impairments, and autistic spectrum disorder. This makes the school a strong fit for families who want a well-equipped, inclusive secondary with a wide range of extracurricular opportunities, especially those who value a supportive environment for pupils with additional needs.

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