St Matthew's RC High School

St Matthew’s RC High School has been transformed since its November 2022 inspection, when it required special measures. Inspectors found a tangible culture change: pupils feel safe and happy, behaviour is calm and focused, and expectations for behaviour and achievement are ambitious. The school no longer requires special measures, and inspectors judged provision to be strong across the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. It is an academy sponsor-led school in the Emmaus Catholic Academy Trust. Leaders, with trust support, have raised curriculum ambition and strengthened staffing and training. Pupils, including those with SEND, follow a broad and ambitious curriculum and are achieving increasingly well. Reading support, attendance, personal development and careers are notable strengths. Attendance is now above the national average, and safeguarding is effective. Concerns remain in a small number of subjects, where curriculum implementation is not checked closely enough and assessment is at an early stage, so some pupils do not learn as deeply or have gaps addressed promptly. Too many pupils are also late to school each day. Published 2023 outcomes do not yet reflect current improvements because of legacy weaker curriculums, staffing instability and poor attendance.

Strengths

• The school has been transformed since the last inspection, with a tangible culture change.
• Pupils feel safe, happy and proud of their school.
• Behaviour is calm and focused, with consistent systems understood by pupils.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, including for pupils with SEND.
• Leaders have raised curriculum ambition and strengthened staffing and training.
• Pupils are achieving increasingly well across a range of subjects.
• Reading support is effective and pupils develop a love of reading.
• Pupils with SEND are identified accurately and generally achieve well.
• Attendance has risen and is now above the national average.
• Personal, social and health education is well considered.
• The careers programme is comprehensive and supports pupils’ next steps.
• Trustees and governors provide valuable support and constructive challenge.
• Leaders are alert to staff workload and well-being.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of subjects, curriculum implementation is not checked in enough detail.
• In some subjects, assessment strategies are at an early stage of development.
• In a few subjects, some activities do not help pupils learn new content well.
• Teachers’ checks on learning are sometimes not effective enough to identify gaps or misconceptions.
• Too many pupils are not punctual to school each day.
• Published 2023 outcomes do not yet reflect current improvements due to legacy weaknesses.

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 St Matthew's RC High School attended 93.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 16.4% 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, 5.2% of pupils at St Matthew's RC High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 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 St Matthew's RC High School had 14.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.0% 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, 14.2% of pupils at St Matthew's RC High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.2% 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 St Matthew's RC High School received £9,559 and spent £9,069 for each of its 1,328 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £754,000 (£567 per pupil).

Across all 27 schools of Emmaus Catholic Academy Trust, income was £5,800 and spending £5,816 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.

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• Secondary Schools

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

St Matthew's RC High School is part of Emmaus Catholic Academy Trust, which runs 38 schools. The nearest others:

• St Margaret Mary's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Manchester
• St Dunstan's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Manchester
• St John Bosco RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Manchester
• St Mary's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Manchester
• Mount Carmel RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Manchester
• Saint John Henry Newman Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy Oldham
• Corpus Christi RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Oldham
• St Edmund's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Manchester
• Holy Family RC Primary School Oldham
• St Herbert's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Oldham

What is St Matthew's RC High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Matthew's RC High School is Good, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was St Matthew's RC High School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Matthew's RC High School was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does St Matthew's RC High School have?

St Matthew's RC High School has 1,327 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Matthew's RC High School cover?

St Matthew's RC High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are St Matthew's RC High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 37.6, and 33% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Matthew's RC High School?

St Matthew's RC High School is at Nuthurst Road, Moston, Manchester, M40 0EW.