Arbour Academy, Salford, Greater Manchester
Arbour Academy is a secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 16 in Salford, Greater Manchester, part of Kings Academy Trust.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
Arbour Academy in detail
Getting a place at Arbour Academy
Across Salford, 86% of families were offered their first-choice secondary school for 2026 entry, and 96% were offered one of the schools they named.
In 2026, families in Salford lodged 107 appeals against secondary school offers; 81 reached a hearing and 11 succeeded (13.6% of those heard).
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state secondary schools to Arbour Academy are Ellesmere Park High School (0.6 miles, Good, Attainment 8 48.9); All Hallows RC High School (0.8 miles, Good, Attainment 8 51.7); Buile Hill Academy (1.3 miles, Attainment 8 46.1); and AldridgeUTC@MediaCityUK (1.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 39).
Ellesmere Park High SchoolAll Hallows RC High SchoolBuile Hill AcademyAldridgeUTC@MediaCityUK
The trust
Arbour Academy is one of 6 schools run by Kings Academy Trust, an academy trust.
What parents say
10 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Arbour Academy (as of September 2025): 90% would recommend the school, 70% say their child is happy there and 100% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (100%); the weakest, that their child is happy at the school (70%).
Where pupils go next
Of the 9 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 44% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 44% to a further education college.
Who goes there
72.7% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 2.3% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
In 2026, 4 pupils (9.1%) received SEN support and 40 (90.9%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is social, emotional and mental health needs.
Arbour Academy has a resourced provision (65 places, 61 pupils on roll) and a SEN unit (65 places, 61 pupils on roll) for autism and social, emotional and mental health needs.
Getting there
The nearest tram or metro stop is Ladywell (Manchester Metrolink), about 180 metres away (roughly a 2-minute walk).
10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Eccles New Road (near), 60 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Arbour Academy stands in is among the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
Primary schools nearby
The primary schools closest to Arbour Academy are Clarendon Road Community Primary School (0.3 miles), St Mary's RC Primary School (0.5 miles), St Andrew's CofE Primary School (0.6 miles) and Light Oaks Junior School (0.8 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.
Clarendon Road Community Primary SchoolSt Mary's RC Primary SchoolSt Andrew's CofE Primary SchoolLight Oaks Junior School
Sources: DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; Ofsted Parent View; DfE destination measures; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 1 year agoOverall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Arbour Academy has had no graded Ofsted inspection since it took its current form in April 2023. Before that, as The Canterbury Centre (URN 135952), it was rated Good in January 2016.
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's June 2025 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
Arbour Academy creates a warm, welcoming environment where vulnerable pupils quickly settle and thrive. Staff have high ambitions for every child and provide excellent support for their emotional wellbeing and personal development. Pupils enjoy school, behave well, and engage in a wide range of enriching activities that build their confidence and prepare them for future success.
Key Strengths
- Warm, supportive relationships between staff and pupils help them feel safe and settled despite previous barriers
- Ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum with improved subject content in most areas
- Strong personal development provision with wide-ranging activities including gardening, drumming, darts, raft building and volunteering
- Effective behaviour management systems that have reduced lost learning time
- Significant improvements in pupil attendance with pupils now accessing full-time education
Areas for Improvement
- Some subjects lack clearly defined key knowledge, making it harder for pupils to build on what they learn
- Curriculum delivery does not always account for pupils' varied starting points, leaving some without secure foundations
- Teachers' checks on learning don't always identify gaps quickly enough, especially for pupils with lower attendance
- Outreach provision pupils receive inconsistent support for reading and careers education compared to main school pupils
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective with appropriate systems in place to keep pupils safe.
Extracurricular Activities
gardening, drumming, darts, raft building, volunteering
Arbour Academy is a welcoming alternative provision school that has significantly improved since its previous inadequate rating. The school has overhauled its curriculum and raised expectations for pupil achievement, though there is still variability in how consistently the planned curriculum is taught.
At a Glance
72.7%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
Resourced provision and SEN unit: Autism, SEMH
SEN Provision
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
10 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at September 2025 - % who strongly agree or agree
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby secondary schools
Social & online
Keep up with Arbour Academy
Getting There
Train Stations
Tube / Metro / Tram
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Arbour Academy from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Arbour Academy is in Salford; for families living there:
- Salford's school travel policy: Salford home to school transport policy 2026 (Adobe PDF format, 156kb)
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 37
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 10
- Children hurt
- 2
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 37 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 10 serious and 27 slight.
2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt.
4 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Salford is 19.5 (the median across 136 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
68%
Available places
44 pupils
65 places
21 spare places
as recorded on GIAS
Area Demand Pressure - Salford, Greater Manchester
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Salford, Greater Manchester
Across Salford council
Places available
2,774
Applications
2,789
Got 1st preference
85.9%
Got preferred school
96.4%
All secondary applications across Salford council (2026/27), not just this school.
Inspection History(2)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
4
SEN Support
40
EHC Plans
100.0%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Arbour Academy has a resourced provision (65 places, 61 pupils on roll) and a SEN unit (65 places, 61 pupils on roll) for autism and social, emotional and mental health needs.
Source: GIAS, Department for Education.
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
44
Total Pupils
18
Boys
26
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
9
Teachers
4.9:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£57,491
Mean salary
2026 data
Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
Arbour Academy
Showing 10 of 13 linked schools
Questions parents ask about Arbour Academy
What is Arbour Academy's Ofsted rating?
Arbour Academy has had no graded Ofsted inspection since it took its current form in April 2023. Before that, as The Canterbury Centre (URN 135952), it was rated Good in January 2016.
What is the catchment area for Arbour Academy?
No fixed boundary. When Arbour Academy is oversubscribed, Salford allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
How many pupils go to Arbour Academy?
Arbour Academy has around 44 pupils on roll. 73% are eligible for free school meals.
Does Arbour Academy have specialist SEN provision?
Arbour Academy has a resourced provision (65 places, 61 pupils on roll) and a SEN unit (65 places, 61 pupils on roll) for autism and social, emotional and mental health needs.
How do I apply to Arbour Academy?
Apply through Salford's coordinated admissions process, naming Arbour Academy on your application. The national closing date in England is 31 October for secondary places and 15 January for primary places, in the year before your child starts.
How many road collisions happen near Arbour Academy?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 37 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 10 serious and 27 slight. 2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt. 4 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Salford is 19.5 (the median across 136 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Arbour Academy?
Arbour Academy is at Canterbury Gardens, 640 Eccles New Road, Salford, Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester, M5 5AG.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)