Chorlton CofE Primary School

Chorlton C of E Primary School is performing strongly. Pupils are nurtured in a caring, inclusive environment where strong relationships and a focus on wellbeing help them flourish. Inspectors found an ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum from Nursery to Year 6, excellent early years provision, strong reading and phonics support, and effective help for pupils with SEND. Pupils have very positive attitudes, attend well, and benefit from an exceptional personal development programme that prepares them well for life in modern Britain. Leadership, governance and safeguarding are all effective, and staff workload is well managed. The main area for improvement is consistency in writing across Years 1 to 6. Expectations for handwriting, spelling and grammar are not always high enough, and occasional unchecked mistakes lead to avoidable errors that can hinder pupils’ fluency. The school has already identified this and taken swift action, but it is too soon to see the full impact. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection since 2014, when it was judged outstanding and subsequently exempt from routine inspection. It is a voluntary controlled Church of England primary school in the Diocese of Manchester. Under the current inspection framework, no overall effectiveness grade is given.

Strengths

• Nurturing environment with strong relationships and a focus on pupil wellbeing
• Ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum from Nursery to Year 6
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported well
• Excellent early years provision with high-quality adult interactions
• Strong phonics teaching and effective catch-up support
• Pupils have very positive attitudes and are highly engaged in learning
• Exceptional personal development programme preparing pupils for modern Britain
• Highly effective work to secure regular attendance and support families
• Governors are highly effective and ensure staff workload is manageable
• Exemplary culture of inclusivity
• Pupils are welcoming, well-mannered and reflective
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Expectations for handwriting, spelling and grammar are not consistently high in Years 1 to 6
• Some unchecked writing mistakes lead to avoidable errors that can hinder fluency
• High expectations for written accuracy are not consistently applied across all subjects

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Chorlton CofE Primary School attended 96.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.0% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.4% of pupils at Chorlton CofE Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Chorlton CofE Primary School had 25.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 15.9% of pupils at Chorlton CofE Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Chorlton CofE Primary School received £8,642 and spent £8,365 for each of its 227 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £83,000 (£366 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

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What is Chorlton CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Chorlton CofE Primary School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Chorlton CofE Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Chorlton CofE Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Chorlton CofE Primary School have?

Chorlton CofE Primary School has 227 pupils on roll.

What age range does Chorlton CofE Primary School cover?

Chorlton CofE Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Chorlton CofE Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 82% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Chorlton CofE Primary School?

Chorlton CofE Primary School is at Vicars Road, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 9JA.