Co-op Academy Failsworth

Co-op Academy Failsworth has made significant improvements since its last inspection, achieving a 'Good' overall effectiveness rating. The school strives to provide a high-quality education for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and has a supportive environment where most pupils feel safe and engaged in their learning. The curriculum is ambitious and well-structured, and the school has effective measures in place for assessing pupil progress, ensuring that achievements are improving year-on-year. However, while the school demonstrates many strengths, it faces challenges in fully embedding recent curriculum changes across all year groups, resulting in examination results that remain below the national average. Furthermore, the approach to identifying and addressing errors in pupils' written work needs refinement to better support writing accuracy and ensure all students achieve their potential.

Strengths

• High expectations of pupils' achievement.
• Supportive environment for pupils, including those with SEND.
• Ambitious and well-designed curriculum.
• Teachers possess good subject knowledge.
• Effective assessment strategies to identify and address learning gaps.
• Strong focus on personal development and citizenship.
• Comprehensive careers program providing diverse opportunities.
• Positive pupil behaviour and engagement.
• Increasing attendance rates.

Areas for Improvement

• Published results are below national averages.
• Insufficient time for some pupils to benefit from recent curriculum changes.
• Inconsistent strategies to support technical accuracy in writing.

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 Co-op Academy Failsworth attended 90.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 28.0% 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, 6.8% of pupils at Co-op Academy Failsworth were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 5 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 Co-op Academy Failsworth had 14.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.1% 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, 15.6% of pupils at Co-op Academy Failsworth were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.1% 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 Co-op Academy Failsworth received £9,920 and spent £9,662 for each of its 1,436 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,115,000 (£776 per pupil).

Across all 40 schools of The Co-Operative Academies Trust, income was £9,737 and spending £9,467 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 · Oldham local authority: places and applications

Co-op Academy Failsworth is part of The Co-Operative Academies Trust, which runs 40 schools. The nearest others:

• Co-op Academy Broadhurst Manchester
• Co-op Academy North Manchester Manchester
• Connell Co-Op College Manchester
• Co-op Academy Manchester Manchester
• Co-op Academy Belle Vue Manchester
• Co-op Academy New Islington Manchester
• Co-op Academy Medlock Manchester
• Co-op Academy Strinesdale Oldham
• Co-op Academy Swinton Manchester
• Co-op Academy Walkden Manchester

What is Co-op Academy Failsworth's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Co-op Academy Failsworth is Good, from an inspection in July 2024.

When was Co-op Academy Failsworth last inspected by Ofsted?

Co-op Academy Failsworth was last inspected in July 2024.

How many pupils does Co-op Academy Failsworth have?

Co-op Academy Failsworth has 1,434 pupils on roll.

What age range does Co-op Academy Failsworth cover?

Co-op Academy Failsworth for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Co-op Academy Failsworth's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.7, and 45% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Co-op Academy Failsworth?

Co-op Academy Failsworth is at Brierley Avenue, Failsworth, Manchester, M35 9HA.