Primary
The Birches School
Newholme Road, West Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2XZ
Key facts
- Phase
- Primary
- Type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Intake
- Mixed
- Pupils
- 168 pupils
- Pupils per teacher
- 7.2
- Local authority
- Manchester
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
Staffing23/24
- Teachers (FTE)
- 23.4
- All staff (FTE)
- 73.1
- Pupils per adult
- 2.3
- Pupils
- 169
Staff are counted as full-time equivalents in the November school workforce census, so the pupil figure here is that census’s own and will differ a little from the roll above, which is counted in January.
Ofsted
Last inspected May 2024
Good
- Behaviour and attitudesGood
- Early yearsGood
- Leadership and governanceGood
- Personal developmentGood
- Quality of educationGood
Inspected under the previous framework, which used its own four-point scale. Ofsted now publishes a report card grading several areas separately, so these grades are not directly comparable with a recent inspection’s.
SafeguardingMet
Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)Earlier inspections1
July 2023
Ungraded inspection
Outstanding
Read the report (opens in a new tab)
SATs results
0%
All published measures2024/2025
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Reading, writing and maths | 0% |
| Working at a higher standard | 0% |
From the Department for Education. Measures are published per year and suppressed where a cohort is too small, so some schools show fewer. There are no results for 2019/20 or 2020/21, when exams and assessments were cancelled.
Results over time3 years
Each measure on its own scale, over every year we hold.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 22/23 | 0% |
| 23/24 | 0% |
| 24/25 | 0% |
Newholme Road, West Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2XZ
Admissions
How to apply (opens in a new tab)
You apply through your council, not the school - even for academies and free schools. Applications close on 15 January, the year before starting.
Manchester admissions (opens in a new tab)
The council publishes the oversubscription criteria and last year’s offer distances, which is the closest thing to knowing your chances.
If you are refused a place (opens in a new tab)
You can appeal, and you can join a waiting list at the same time. Accept whatever offer you get first - declining it can leave you with no place at all.
This school’s own admissions (opens in a new tab)
Schools that set their own criteria - faith schools, grammars, academies - publish them on their own site.
Contact
- Headteacher
- Rob O'Hara
- Address
- Newholme Road, West Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2XZ
- Telephone
- 01614488895