St James' CofE Primary School, Birch-in-Rusholme, Manchester
Data last updated 11 Sept 2026
Location
Estimated admission likelihood based on school density and oversubscription data
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 4 years agoOverall
Ofsted Insights
What This School Does Well
This school creates a happy, welcoming environment where every child feels valued and supported. Teachers are highly committed to pupil progress and wellbeing, and the school successfully supports children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Strong leadership ensures consistent teaching quality and continuous improvement in pupils' outcomes.
Key Strengths
- Consistently effective teaching with all pupils making at least good progress
- Strong leadership that is ambitious for pupils and creates a warm, welcoming learning environment
- Effective safeguarding arrangements with a strong safeguarding culture throughout the school
- Improved attendance rates across all pupil groups through targeted strategies
- Well-developed early years outdoor area supporting physical development and learning
Areas for Improvement
- Progress in English and mathematics is not yet consistent or sustained enough
- Proportion of most-able pupils achieving greater depth or high standard needs to increase
- Most-able pupils in key stage 1 and 2 not consistently challenged to deeper thinking
- Action plans for subjects other than English and mathematics lack sharp focus on pupil achievement impact
- Minor administrative errors in staff record checks need correction
Safeguarding
Safeguarding is effective, with all arrangements fit for purpose, detailed records of high quality, and a strong safeguarding culture where staff are well-trained and pupils feel safe.
Extracurricular Activities
Multi-sports club, film reviewing club, sewing club, visits to places of interest such as Formby squirrel reserve, Pupils' Parliament, assemblies with planned programmes
St James' CofE Primary School continues to be good, with a leadership team that has maintained strong educational quality since the last inspection in 2013. The school has successfully addressed previous areas for improvement and pupils make at least good progress.
At a Glance
48.2%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2025/26KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has improved from 83% to 89%. Maths has remained stable at around 81%. Writing has remained stable at around 78%.
Class Sizes
26.9
Avg class size
26.0
Infant (KS1)
29.3
KS2
8
Total classes
2 classes with more than 30 pupils
2024/25 academic year
Getting There
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
94%
Near capacity
222 pupils
236 capacity
14 spare places available
Area Demand Pressure - Manchester
Based on MHCLG housing supply data for Manchester
Admissions Demand - Manchester
Places available
7,395
Applications
5,691
Got 1st preference
97.3%
Got preferred school
99.5%
Primary admissions across Manchester (2025/26)
House Prices
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SEN Provision
How many pupils have special educational needs, what types of support the school provides, and how it compares to similar schools.
Pupil Demographics
The school's pupil mix - ethnicity breakdown, free school meals eligibility, and English as an additional language. Useful context when evaluating school fit.
Teachers & Staff
Teacher qualification rates, pupil-to-teacher ratio, staff turnover, and salary data. Shows how well-resourced and stable the school's workforce is.
School Funding
Annual funding per pupil, total budget, pupil premium grants, and how the school's resources compare to similar schools nationally.
Pupil Absence2024/25
5.99878%
Overall absence
17.1123%
Persistent absence
187
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
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Secondary Schools Nearby
Secondary schools pupils are likely to move to
St James' CofE Primary School, Birch-in-Rusholme
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