Shirley Manor Primary School, Bradford
Shirley Manor Primary School is a primary school for pupils aged 3 to 11 in Bradford, part of The Family of Learning Trust. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in June 2019. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in November 2024 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 108th-highest of the 110 schools in Bradford with published results, and 14,199th of 14,452 across England. It was 71% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- Below England average
- Ofsted
- Good (2019)
- Demand
- Every first choice offered
- Attendance
- Below England average
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 81 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Bradford (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
Shirley Manor Primary School in detail
Shirley Manor Primary School in its own words
Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, cricket, athletics, cross-country, dance, drama, choir, chess, Lego and art.
The school runs a breakfast club and after-school care until 5:30pm, from £2.50 per day.
Clubs (school website)Wraparound care (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Results
In 2025, 48% of Year 6 pupils at Shirley Manor Primary School reached the expected standard in reading and 41% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 74% and 73% in Bradford and 77% and 75% across England.
Results fell from 57% in reading and 57% in maths in 2024.
With small year groups, a few pupils can move these figures by several points.
Getting a place at Shirley Manor Primary School
For September 2026 entry, 22 families put Shirley Manor Primary School as their first choice and 29 named it as one of their preferences, for 22 places offered. That is one first choice for every place. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.
Admissions history and your chances at Shirley Manor Primary School
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to Shirley Manor Primary School are Worthinghead Primary School (0.6 miles, Good, 62% reading, 62% maths); Scholes Village Primary School (0.6 miles, Good, 71% reading, 68% maths); Bailiffe Bridge Junior and Infant School (0.7 miles, Good, 97% reading, 97% maths); and Cliffe Hill Community Primary School (1.2 miles, Good, 65% reading, 73% maths).
Each of them had higher 2025 results than Shirley Manor Primary School.
Worthinghead Primary SchoolScholes Village Primary SchoolBailiffe Bridge Junior and Infant SchoolCliffe Hill Community Primary School
The trust
Shirley Manor Primary School is one of 5 schools run by The Family of Learning Trust, an academy trust.
What parents say
15 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Shirley Manor Primary School (as of September 2025): 80% would recommend the school, 93% say their child is happy there and 33% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (93%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (33%).
Who goes there
54.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.
In 2026, 49 pupils (29.2%) received SEN support and 5 (3%) 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.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Low Moor Rail Station, about 1.4 miles away in a straight line.
12 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Griffe Drive (at), 170 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Shirley Manor Primary School stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
In August 2026, police recorded 106 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, shoplifting and criminal damage and arson. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Bradford (404).
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Shirley Manor Primary School issued 29 suspensions, 16.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.
Secondary schools nearby
The secondary schools closest to Shirley Manor Primary School are Appleton Academy (0.6 miles); Lightcliffe Academy (1.1 miles); Brighouse High School (1.7 miles); and Whitcliffe Mount, A Share Academy (1.8 miles).
Appleton AcademyLightcliffe AcademyBrighouse High SchoolWhitcliffe Mount, A Share Academy
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; Ofsted Parent View; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Location
Every family who put it first was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance did not limit places that year.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from June 2019, 7 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Early Years
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's November 2024 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
The school has made impressive changes under new leadership, with much better behaviour and positive attitudes to learning now evident. Pupils benefit from a wealth of enrichment experiences beyond the classroom, including charity work and emotional learning support. The school is actively engaged with parents and values their feedback about the positive direction the school is heading.
Key Strengths
- Pupil behaviour has improved significantly with clear routines and school rules now in place - pupils move around school calmly and treat each other well
- The school has introduced a clear, well-structured phonics curriculum with staff training and support from the trust
- Pupils benefit from a rich wider curriculum with opportunities to contribute to charities, develop emotional awareness, and understand different groups in society
- New leaders have made rapid improvements and introduced a clear curriculum in different subjects
- Support for pupils with SEND has improved through new identification systems
Areas for Improvement
- The phonics programme is not fully implemented - reading books do not always match the sounds taught, and some struggling pupils lack catch-up support
- Staff do not understand the early years curriculum well enough, leading to activities that lack purpose and poor preparation for Year 1
- Some pupils in key stage 2 have unidentified phonics gaps that are not being addressed
- Staff do not consistently make the best activity choices to help pupils learn and build knowledge over time
- The school needs more training for staff on the newly introduced curriculum
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective with appropriate procedures and an open, positive culture that puts children's interests first.
Extracurricular Activities
Charity and community contributions, classroom monitor roles, playground buddy schemes
Shirley Manor Primary School requires improvement in the quality of education, though new leadership has begun making positive changes since summer 2024. The school demonstrates good behaviour, attitudes, personal development, and leadership, but early years provision requires improvement.
At a Glance
54.8%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
15 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at September 2025 - % who strongly agree or agree
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2024/25KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has declined from 57% to 48% (2024 to 2025). Maths has declined from 57% to 41% (2024 to 2025). Writing has remained stable at around 63% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
18.9
Avg class size
17.7
Infant (KS1)
23.5
KS2
8
Total classes
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Social & online
Keep up with Shirley Manor Primary School
Before and after school care
Shirley Manor Primary School is on the Department for Education's free breakfast clubs programme (list updated July 2026), which pays for a free breakfast club for pupils before school. Source: Free breakfast clubs: schools on the programme, Department for Education Free breakfast clubs in Bradford
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Shirley Manor Primary School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Shirley Manor Primary School is in Bradford; for families living there:
- Bradford's school travel policy: Home to school travel and transport policy for children of compulsory school age
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 21
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 9
- Children hurt
- 3
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 21 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 9 serious and 12 slight.
3 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 1 on foot and 2 in a vehicle or otherwise.
3 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 Bradford is 30 (the median across 233 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
Your chances of a place at Shirley Manor Primary School
Will you get a place at Shirley Manor Primary School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Shirley Manor Primary School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Shirley Manor Primary School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Shirley Manor Primary School.
- Bradford publishes last distance offered figures, but none for Shirley Manor Primary School that we hold, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Shirley Manor Primary School for 2015 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Bradford got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
71%
Available places
150 pupils
210 places
60 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Bradford
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Bradford
Across Bradford council
Places available
7,475
Applications
6,301
Got 1st preference
92.3%
Got preferred school
98.6%
All primary applications across Bradford council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Every first choice offered
Inspection History(3)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
49
SEN Support
5
EHC Plans
32.1%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
168
Total Pupils
92
Boys
76
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
8
Teachers
21.0:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£52,977
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£6,488
Per pupil
£1244k
Total funding
£135k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
7.3%
Overall absence
28.8%
Persistent absence
153
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Secondary Schools Nearby
Secondary schools pupils are likely to move to
Shirley Manor Primary School
Questions parents ask about Shirley Manor Primary School
What are SATs results like at Shirley Manor Primary School?
Of the pupils at Shirley Manor Primary School who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 48% reached the expected standard in reading and 41% did so in maths.
What is Shirley Manor Primary School's Ofsted rating?
Shirley Manor Primary School's most recent Ofsted inspection, in November 2024, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in June 2019, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for Shirley Manor Primary School?
No fixed boundary. When Shirley Manor Primary School is oversubscribed, Bradford allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at Shirley Manor Primary School?
Shirley Manor Primary School was not full in 2025: it ran at 71% of its 210 places.
How big are the classes at Shirley Manor Primary School?
Classes at Shirley Manor Primary School average 18.9 pupils (2025/26).
How many pupils go to Shirley Manor Primary School?
Shirley Manor Primary School has around 168 pupils on roll. 55% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Shirley Manor Primary School?
7.3% of sessions were missed at Shirley Manor Primary School in 2024/25. 28.8% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Shirley Manor Primary School?
Apply through Bradford's coordinated admissions process, naming Shirley Manor Primary School on your application. Applications for Reception places starting in September 2027 close on Friday 15 January 2027, and offers are made on Friday 16 April 2027.
Does Shirley Manor Primary School have a breakfast club or after-school club?
Shirley Manor Primary School is on the Department for Education's free breakfast clubs programme (list updated July 2026), which pays for a free breakfast club for pupils before school.
How many road collisions happen near Shirley Manor Primary School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 21 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 9 serious and 12 slight. 3 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 1 on foot and 2 in a vehicle or otherwise. 3 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 Bradford is 30 (the median across 233 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Shirley Manor Primary School?
Shirley Manor Primary School is at Methuen Oval, Wyke, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD12 8SA.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)