Didsbury CofE Primary School

Didsbury CofE Primary School is performing well overall, with a 'Good' rating in key areas such as the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management. Pupils enjoy their learning and demonstrate positive behaviour, forming strong relationships with staff and peers. The school's curriculum is broad and mostly ambitious, leading to high achievement in reading and mathematics. However, some challenges exist, particularly in early years education, where curriculum delivery could be improved to ensure all pupils achieve their potential.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve highly in reading and mathematics.
• Strong supportive relationships between pupils and staff.
• Pupils display thoughtful behaviour and kindness.
• Effective safeguarding arrangements are in place.
• Leaders provide a broad and ambitious curriculum.

Areas for Improvement

• Early years provision requires improvement.
• Inconsistencies in curriculum delivery in some subjects.
• Some teachers do not focus sharply on essential knowledge in early years.

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 Didsbury CofE Primary School attended 95.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.7% 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, 1.4% of pupils at Didsbury 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 Didsbury CofE Primary School had 19.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.4% 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, 14.9% of pupils at Didsbury CofE Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.1% 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 Didsbury CofE Primary School received £7,446 and spent £8,062 for each of its 209 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £273,000 (£1,305 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Thrive Church of England Academy Trust Ltd, income was £5,950 and spending £5,888 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

Didsbury CofE Primary School is part of Thrive Church of England Academy Trust Ltd, which runs 5 schools. The nearest others:

• West Didsbury CE Primary School Manchester
• St Wilfrid's CofE Aided Primary School Northenden Manchester
• St Elisabeth's Church of England Primary Stockport
• St Luke's CofE Primary School Salford

What is Didsbury CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Didsbury CofE Primary School is Good, from an inspection in January 2023.

When was Didsbury CofE Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Didsbury CofE Primary School was last inspected in January 2023.

How many pupils does Didsbury CofE Primary School have?

Didsbury CofE Primary School has 222 pupils on roll.

What age range does Didsbury CofE Primary School cover?

Didsbury CofE Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 79% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Didsbury CofE Primary School?

Didsbury CofE Primary School is at Elm Grove, Didsbury, Manchester, M20 6RL.