Star Salford Academy

Star Salford Academy is a small, growing school within Star Academies, serving 276 pupils in a disadvantaged area with high levels of free school meals and special educational needs. Following its July 2026 full inspection, safeguarding standards were met, and the school is performing strongly in most areas: achievement, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and personal development and wellbeing are all graded strong standard. Pupils make considerable and sustained progress, read fluently, behave excellently, and benefit from high-quality teaching, strong pastoral care, and a rich personal development programme. The main exception is attendance. Although leaders have implemented many strategies, overall attendance remains below national average and persistent absence is above national average, especially for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The report says attendance is the school's biggest challenge, and leaders' strategies have not yet had the desired impact across identified groups, though some pupils who joined mid-year have improved from their starting points. Leadership and governance are graded expected standard; leaders are described as highly ambitious and well supported by the trust, but attendance is an area where they are less clear about how to drive standards higher. The next steps focus on strengthening the identification of absence patterns, particularly for pupils with SEND, so barriers can be overcome more rapidly. Leaders are also asked to maintain the current high standards in curriculum, teaching, and personal development as the school continues to grow and pupils enter key stage 4.

Strengths

• Pupils make considerable and sustained progress through an ambitious curriculum.
• Teaching is consistently high quality, with expert modelling, scaffolding and assessment.
• Pupils, including those with barriers to learning, achieve very well.
• Leaders have helped many pupils become confident and fluent readers.
• Inclusion is a notable strength, with meticulous identification of barriers and rapid support.
• Pupils with SEND learn successfully alongside their peers and often access the curriculum independently.
• Personal development is embedded throughout school life and broadens pupils' horizons.
• Pupils' behaviour is excellent, with rarely any disruption in lessons.
• Relationships between pupils and staff are a notable strength.
• Pastoral support is highly effective and helps pupils feel safe and supported.
• Staff benefit from a bespoke and highly effective professional development programme.
• Pupils are self-regulated, respectful, confident, resilient and well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture of safeguarding.
• Leaders use additional funding wisely to support disadvantaged pupils' wider development.

Areas for Improvement

• Attendance remains below national average and is the school's biggest challenge.
• Leaders' strategies to reduce absence have not had the desired impact across identified groups.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are absent too frequently.
• Persistent absence is above national average, with many persistently absent pupils joining mid-year.
• Leaders need to strengthen their approach to identifying absence patterns, particularly for pupils with SEND.

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 Star Salford Academy attended 89.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 32.4% 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, 4.7% of pupils at Star Salford Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Star Salford Academy had 15.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.5% 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, 23.1% of pupils at Star Salford Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.1% 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 Star Salford Academy received £10,730 and spent £9,810 for each of its 278 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £271,000 (£976 per pupil).

Across all 36 schools of Star Academies, income was £8,430 and spending £8,333 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 Salford · Salford local authority: places and applications

Star Salford Academy is part of Star Academies, which runs 36 schools. The nearest others:

• The Olive School, Bolton Bolton
• Eden Boys' School, Bolton Bolton
• Star Radcliffe Academy Radcliffe
• The Olive School, Manchester Manchester
• Eden Boys' Leadership Academy, Manchester Manchester
• Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester Manchester
• Oulder Hill Leadership Academy Rochdale
• Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School Rossendale
• The Valley Leadership Academy Bacup
• Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School Blackburn

What is Star Salford Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Star Salford Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Star Salford Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Star Salford Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Star Salford Academy have?

Star Salford Academy has 389 pupils on roll.

What age range does Star Salford Academy cover?

Star Salford Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

Where is Star Salford Academy?

Star Salford Academy is at 124 Longshaw Drive, Worsley, Greater Manchester, M28 0BB.