Dean Trust Ardwick

Dean Trust Ardwick continues to demonstrate a strong performance as a good school, maintaining high expectations for all its pupils. The school provides an engaging educational environment where pupils achieve well, often from lower-than-average starting points. There is a strong sense of community, with pupils feeling supported and safe, which contributes to their positive attitudes towards learning and their overall enjoyment of school life. The curriculum is well-structured, offering a broad range of subjects and opportunities that prepare pupils effectively for future challenges.

Strengths

• Leaders have high expectations for all pupils.
• Pupils achieve well and make positive gains in their knowledge.
• The school provides a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils, including those with SEND.
• Teachers design ambitious subject curriculums that ensure logical progression of knowledge.
• Effective use of assessment strategies to support pupils' learning.
• Strong focus on citizenship and personal development education.

Areas for Improvement

• Some teachers' knowledge of effective curriculum delivery is underdeveloped.

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 Dean Trust Ardwick attended 93.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 20.3% 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, 12.0% of pupils at Dean Trust Ardwick 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 Dean Trust Ardwick had 14.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.6% 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, 12.3% of pupils at Dean Trust Ardwick were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.2% 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 2024–25 Dean Trust Ardwick received £9,458 and spent £9,420 for each of its 1,351 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £632,000 (£468 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of The Dean Trust, income was £8,955 and spending £9,005 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Manchester · Manchester local authority: places and applications

Dean Trust Ardwick is part of The Dean Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• Abraham Moss Community School Manchester
• Ashton-on-Mersey School Sale
• Partington Central Academy Manchester
• Broadoak School Manchester
• Forest Gate Academy Manchester
• Dean Trust Rose Bridge Wigan
• Dean Trust Wigan Wigan
• Lord Derby Academy Liverpool
• Blacklow Brow School Liverpool
• Park View Academy Liverpool

What is Dean Trust Ardwick's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Dean Trust Ardwick is Good, from an inspection in September 2023.

When was Dean Trust Ardwick last inspected by Ofsted?

Dean Trust Ardwick was last inspected in September 2023.

How many pupils does Dean Trust Ardwick have?

Dean Trust Ardwick has 1,329 pupils on roll.

What age range does Dean Trust Ardwick cover?

Dean Trust Ardwick for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Dean Trust Ardwick's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 48.4, and 47% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Dean Trust Ardwick?

Dean Trust Ardwick is at 345 Stockport Road, Ardwick, Manchester, Lancashire, M13 0LF.