The Birches School, Manchester

Good
Special
Community special school
Mixed
Ages 411

Data last updated 11 Sept 2026

Location

Key Information

DfE GIAS
Head:Mr Rob O'Hara
Pupils:168
LA:Manchester
Phone:01614488895
Address:Newholme Road, West Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2XZ
Admissions:Not applicable
Status:open

Ofsted Rating

Good

Overall

URN:105613
UKPRN:10077017
Diocese:Not applicable
Constituency:Manchester Withington
Urban/Rural:Urban: Nearer to a major town or city

Ofsted Insights

Ofsted rated this school Good.

A plain-English summary of the full inspection report is coming soon.

At a Glance

60.1%

Free School Meals

No

Boarding

No

Nursery

No

Sixth Form

SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty

SEN Provision

No

Special Measures

Primary Performance (KS2)

Academic year 2025/26

KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)

2024
2025
ReadingMathsWriting

Reading has remained stable at around 0%. Maths has remained stable at around 0%. Writing has remained stable at around 0%.

Class Sizes

0.0

Avg class size

0

Total classes

2024/25 academic year

Getting There

Tube / Metro / Tram

Burton Road (Manchester Metrolink) (To Manchester)
609m · 10 min walk
Withington (Manchester Metrolink) (South Entrance)
706m · 11 min walk

Bus Stops

Newholme Road (Stop H)
67m · 1 min walk
Princess Road (nr)
292m · 5 min walk
Withington Community Hosp (Stop B)
300m · 5 min walk
Winster Avenue (Stop F)
319m · 5 min walk
Moorfield Road (Stop E)
334m · 5 min walk
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Capacity & Demand

Area Demand Pressure - Manchester

Medium pressure
New homes approved:18,398
Projected new pupils:3,312

Based on MHCLG housing supply data for Manchester

Admissions Demand - Manchester

Low demand0.93x oversubscription

Places available

7,150

Applications

6,683

Got 1st preference

74.4%

Got preferred school

93.2%

Secondary admissions across Manchester (2025/26)

Inspection History(104)

Date not published by Ofsted
Good
Date not published by Ofsted
Good
Date not published by Ofsted
Good

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.

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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.

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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.

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Pupil Absence
2024/25

10.03749%

Overall absence

33.125%

Persistent absence

160

Enrolments

Authorised7.66579%
Unauthorised2.37171%
Persistent (10%+)33.125%
Severe (50%+)2.5%

Absence trend

8.39091%
18/19
8.62342%
20/21
11.20409%
21/22
11.08972%
22/23
9.29771%
23/24
10.03749%
24/25
Overall absence rate

Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.

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