Stafford Manor High School

Stafford Manor High School was monitored in June 2026 after a January 2026 full inspection that left several areas requiring improvement. The monitoring focused on achievement, curriculum and teaching, and leadership and governance. Safeguarding standards are met, and attendance and behaviour and personal development and wellbeing are judged at the expected standard. The school serves a smaller-than-average pupil population with high levels of disadvantage and above-average SEN support. Leaders have acted quickly and prioritised the right work. A literacy strategy and reading programme are beginning to help pupils, a consistent lesson structure has been introduced, and leaders now have better systems for checking teaching and improvement. Attendance is improving from a low base, behaviour systems are clear, and pupils benefit from a well-sequenced personal development offer, strong pupil leadership, broad enrichment and effective careers education. However, significant weaknesses remain. Achievement is still an urgent priority: outcomes are below national averages, disadvantaged pupils lag substantially, and it is too soon to see the impact of recent strategies. Teaching is not yet consistently effective, numeracy support is underdeveloped, and provision for pupils with SEND is not routinely adapted in lessons. Inclusion monitoring is not precise enough, attendance and persistent absence remain worse than national averages, and some low-level disruption persists. Leadership and governance are moving in the right direction but need to secure full impact across the school.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture in which concerns are actively identified and managed.
• Attendance is improving over time, including for Year 11 pupils and pupils with SEND, from a low base.
• Clear behaviour systems and high expectations create a calm environment and positive relationships.
• Pupils report that bullying is dealt with effectively, and positive behaviour is increasingly rewarded.
• The personal development programme is well sequenced and reflects the school's values.
• Pupils learn about British values, protected characteristics, consent and healthy relationships.
• The enrichment offer is broad and participation is rising, including among disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Pupil leadership is strong, with student leaders contributing to school priorities.
• Careers education is effective and impartial, with employer, college and university engagement.
• The literacy strategy and reading programme are beginning to improve pupils' reading fluency.
• A consistent lesson structure and robust teaching-checking system are beginning to have a positive impact.
• Leaders have prioritised the right things, and governors are receiving support to strengthen oversight.
• The school uses additional funding effectively and keeps close oversight of alternative provision.
• Well-planned SEND transition and effective work with external partners support vulnerable pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement remains an urgent priority, with GCSE and Progress 8 outcomes below national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes are substantially below national averages and the disadvantage gap remains wide.
• It is too soon to see the impact of recent improvement strategies on pupils' achievement.
• Teaching is not yet consistently effective across the school.
• Leaders have not yet developed a system to improve pupils' numeracy skills.
• Teachers do not routinely adapt learning to meet the needs of pupils with SEND.
• Monitoring of inclusion provision is not precise enough to allow quick intervention.
• Attendance remains below national averages, and persistent absence is well above national averages.
• Some low-level disruption remains in lessons.
• Leadership and governance need more work to secure full impact across the school.
• The curriculum is not adapted consistently well in all subjects and key stages to meet all pupils' needs.
• Foundational literacy work needs to systematically address handwriting, spelling and grammar across the curriculum.
• Leaders need to ensure the curriculum is delivered effectively in every subject and key stage so pupils know and remember more.
• Leaders need to maintain attendance improvements so the upward trend is sustained.

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 Stafford Manor High School attended 88.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 35.6% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

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, 24.7% of pupils at Stafford Manor High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 6 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 Stafford Manor High School had 15.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

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, 18.9% of pupils at Stafford Manor High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Stafford Manor High School received £10,398 and spent £9,084 for each of its 441 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,394,000 (£3,160 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Stafford · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

What is Stafford Manor High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Stafford Manor High School is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Stafford Manor High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Stafford Manor High School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Stafford Manor High School have?

Stafford Manor High School has 439 pupils on roll.

What age range does Stafford Manor High School cover?

Stafford Manor High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Stafford Manor High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 35.3, and 22% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Stafford Manor High School?

Stafford Manor High School is at Wolverhampton Road, Stafford, Staffordshire, ST17 9DJ.