Unity Community Primary

Unity Community Primary is performing well overall, with most pupils making steady progress from varied starting points across the curriculum. The school has established an effective safeguarding culture, ensuring that students feel safe and supported. Notably, the early years provision is strong, with children achieving well in their phonics knowledge and being well-prepared for later stages of their education. The leadership is actively engaged in addressing previous inspection findings and fostering an inclusive environment that supports the diverse needs of the pupil population, including those with additional challenges. However, there are areas for improvement, particularly in developing pupils’ fluency in written work and ensuring that gaps in knowledge are addressed consistently, especially for students with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Attendance is somewhat concerning, as persistent absence rates are higher than average. Despite these challenges, the school is committed to its community and continues to focus on enhancing academic performance and overall well-being for its pupils.

Strengths

• Strong progress across the curriculum for most pupils.
• Effective safeguarding measures creating a safe environment.
• Ambitious and engaging curriculum provided by leaders.
• High standards of behaviour and respect among pupils.
• Strong early years provision preparing children well for future education.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Areas for Improvement

• Fluency in pupils' written work needs to improve.
• Inconsistent identification of knowledge gaps in teaching.

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 Unity Community Primary attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.2% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Unity Community Primary 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 Unity Community Primary had 19.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.2% 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, 16.0% of pupils at Unity Community Primary were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.4% 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 2024–25 Unity Community Primary received £12,064 and spent £11,297 for each of its 364 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £4,000 (£11 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of Big Life Schools, income was £12,129 and spending £11,379 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

Unity Community Primary is part of Big Life Schools, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Longsight Community Primary Manchester

What is Unity Community Primary's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Unity Community Primary is Expected standard, from an inspection in May 2026.

When was Unity Community Primary last inspected by Ofsted?

Unity Community Primary was last inspected in May 2026.

How many pupils does Unity Community Primary have?

Unity Community Primary has 363 pupils on roll.

What age range does Unity Community Primary cover?

Unity Community Primary for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Unity Community Primary's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 47% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Unity Community Primary?

Unity Community Primary is at Allesley Drive, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M7 4YE.