St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester, Manchester
St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester is a primary school for pupils aged 3 to 11 in Manchester. It has a Roman Catholic religious character. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in March 2017. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in December 2022 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 258th-highest of the 258 schools in Manchester with published results, and 14,305th of 14,452 across England. It was 50% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- Below England average
- Ofsted
- Good (2017)
- 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 Manchester (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester in detail
St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester in its own words
From the headteacher's welcome: "Choosing a school for your child is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. I hope you will discover the heart of our school."
Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, gymnastics and dance.
The school runs a breakfast club.
Coming up: an open day on Tuesday 3 November 2026, an open day on Tuesday 10 November 2026, an open day on Tuesday 17 November 2026 and an open day on Tuesday 24 November 2026. Check the school's website before you go, as dates can change.
All school open days in Manchester
Headteacher's welcome (school website)Clubs (school website)Wraparound care (school website)Open days on the school's site (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Results
In 2025, 46% of Year 6 pupils at St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester reached the expected standard in reading and 36% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 74% and 74% in Manchester and 77% and 75% across England.
Results fell from 53% in reading and 43% in maths in 2024.
With small year groups, a few pupils can move these figures by several points.
Getting a place at St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester
For September 2026 entry, 7 families put St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester as their first choice and 30 named it as one of their preferences, for 7 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 St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester are Green End Primary School (under 0.1 miles, Outstanding, 91% reading, 86% maths); Ladybarn Primary School (0.5 miles, Good, 78% reading, 84% maths); Mauldeth Road Primary School (0.5 miles, Good, 81% reading, 81% maths); and Acacias Community Primary School (0.6 miles, Good, 78% reading, 83% maths).
Each of them had higher 2025 results than St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester.
Green End Primary SchoolLadybarn Primary SchoolMauldeth Road Primary SchoolAcacias Community Primary School
Who goes there
61.7% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.
In 2026, 47 pupils (30.5%) received SEN support and 10 (6.5%) 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.
Staffing
St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester had 11 teachers in 2026, one for every 14 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical primary school, at about one for every 20.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Mauldeth Road Rail Station, about 610 metres away (roughly a 8-minute walk).
12 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is St Bernard's Church (opposite), 90 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester stands in is among the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester issued 85 suspensions, 50.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.
Secondary schools nearby
The secondary schools closest to St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester are Burnage Academy for Boys (0.2 miles), Levenshulme High School (0.6 miles) and Priestnall School (0.8 miles).
Burnage Academy for BoysLevenshulme High SchoolPriestnall School
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; DfE school workforce census; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 4 years agoThis judgement is from March 2017, 9 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Latest (ungraded) inspection: The school remains Good.
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's December 2022 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
St Bernard's creates a caring community where children feel safe and supported. The school has made impressive improvements in reading and behaviour, with highly trained staff who use clear explanations and model learning well. Children benefit from numerous trips and sporting opportunities that help them see the wider world.
Key Strengths
- Strong focus on reading with confident teaching of phonics and careful grouping of pupils by their learning needs
- Well-designed curriculum rooted in the national curriculum with clear building blocks of knowledge
- Effective safeguarding with a strong culture of vigilance and proactive work with external agencies
- Excellent behaviour and attitudes to learning, with pupils striving to meet high standards set by leaders
- Significant investment in sport and enrichment activities that build pupils' wider awareness and confidence
Areas for Improvement
- In a few subjects, teachers do not check thoroughly what pupils have remembered before moving to new content
- Pupils struggle to remember content learned over time due to insufficient revisiting of key knowledge
- Need to introduce more robust systems to help pupils retain and build on their prior learning
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with leaders creating a strong culture of vigilance where all staff are alert to signs of abuse and work closely with external agencies to protect pupils.
Extracurricular Activities
School trips to Imperial War Museum and Central Library Manchester, lunchtime sporting coaches, football stadium visits, enrichment activities, school clubs
St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester is a good school that continues to provide a caring, inclusive and supportive environment where all pupils, including those with SEND, can thrive and achieve.
At a Glance
61.7%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2024/25KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has declined from 53% to 46% (2024 to 2025). Maths has declined from 43% to 36% (2024 to 2025). Writing has declined from 53% to 46% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
18.3
Avg class size
17.0
Infant (KS1)
21.0
KS2
6
Total classes
1 class with more than 30 pupils
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Latest from St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester
Fun At The Beach
29 Jun 2026
Perfect Patterns From Early Years
30 Apr 2026
Y2/3 United in Prayer
20 Apr 2026
Our Holy Week Devotion
31 Mar 2026
Perfect Pinch Pots
24 Mar 2026
Sensational Scientists!
13 Mar 2026
From St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester's website. School Signal is not affiliated with the school.
Keep up with St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester
Before and after school care
St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester 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 Manchester
Clubs on Ofsted's childcare register at or near St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester.
- Ladybarn Kids Club740m away · Not yet graded
- PSCL - Acacias Community Primary School830m away · Not yet graded
Getting There
Train Stations
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester is in Manchester; for families living there:
Apply to Manchester for free school transport. Its policy is on the council's website.
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 26
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 6
- Children hurt
- 3
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 26 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 6 serious and 20 slight.
3 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 3 on foot.
6 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 Manchester is 22 (the median across 222 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 St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester
Will you get a place at St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester:
- The straight-line distance from your home to St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Manchester, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Manchester 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.
£9.99 once
One school, inc. VAT. Or £19.99 for up to three schools.
Pro £9 a month, every report included, cancel any time
A report for any school, plus everything else in Pro.
Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
50%
Available places
156 pupils
315 places
159 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Manchester
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Manchester
Across Manchester council
Places available
7,530
Applications
5,736
Got 1st preference
95.0%
Got preferred school
99.1%
All primary applications across Manchester council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Every first choice offered
Inspection History(6)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
47
SEN Support
10
EHC Plans
37.0%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
154
Total Pupils
77
Boys
77
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
11
Teachers
14.0:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£47,583
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£6,887
Per pupil
£1218k
Total funding
£132k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
10.0%
Overall absence
32.1%
Persistent absence
168
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
St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester
Questions parents ask about St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester
What are SATs results like at St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester?
Of the pupils at St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 46% reached the expected standard in reading and 36% did so in maths.
What is St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester's Ofsted rating?
St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester's most recent Ofsted inspection, in December 2022, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in March 2017, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester?
No fixed boundary. When St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester is oversubscribed, Manchester allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester?
St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester was not full in 2025: it ran at 50% of its 315 places.
How big are the classes at St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester?
Classes at St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester average 18.3 pupils (2025/26). 1 class has more than 30 pupils - infant classes are capped at 30 by law, with limited exceptions.
How many pupils go to St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester?
St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester has around 154 pupils on roll. 62% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester?
10% of sessions were missed at St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester in 2024/25. 32.1% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester?
Apply through Manchester's coordinated admissions process, naming St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester 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 St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester have a breakfast club or after-school club?
St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester 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. Ofsted's childcare register lists 2 out-of-school clubs within a kilometre of St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester: Ladybarn Kids Club (740m away, registered, not yet graded) and PSCL - Acacias Community Primary School (830m away, registered, not yet graded).
How many road collisions happen near St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 26 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 6 serious and 20 slight. 3 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 3 on foot. 6 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 Manchester is 22 (the median across 222 schools, same distance and years).
Where is St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester?
St Bernard's RC Primary School Manchester is at Burnage Lane, Manchester, M19 1DR.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)