Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester
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Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester is a free school in Manchester for girls aged 11 to 18. It has 659 pupils and room for 800. About 46 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 98 out of 100. That puts it well above schools like it, ahead of 96% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in May 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
40 Rayburn Way, Manchester, M8 8DT0161 329 7300edengirlsmanchester.comMrs Kulsum Vali headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 12 May 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 16 February 2022 | S5 Inspection | Good |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
129 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 129 | 124 | 119 | 120 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 58.2 | 55.0 | 58.8 | 48.9 | 46.8 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | +1.02 | +1.37 | +0.22 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 64% | 62% | 65% | 75% | 44% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 78% | 77% | 86% | 88% | 64% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 5.55 | 5.24 | 5.45 | 4.84 | 4.19 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 93% | 94% | 96% | 89% | 49% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 55.8 | 51.7 | 56.5 | 45.1 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 61.1 | 58.0 | 60.6 | 50.5 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 39.7 | 47.8 | 34.3 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 72.7 | 70.1 | 65.2 | – | – |
Subjects
Results came out for 19 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
Strongest subjects
Subjects that did worse than the England average: Physical Education (17% here, 56% across England), French (39% here, 60% across England).
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 129 | 25% | 66% | 78% | 53% | 598 of 3,211 |
| English Literature | 129 | 47% | 84% | 92% | 58% | 227 of 3,202 |
| English Language | 129 | 34% | 67% | 83% | 54% | 558 of 3,210 |
| Religious Studies | 124 | 59% | 85% | 92% | 60% | 213 of 1,825 |
| Combined Science | 105 | 17% | 55% | 66% | 36% | 364 of 3,084 |
| Other Modern Languages | 93 | 68% | 85% | 88% | 49% | 67 of 454 |
| Geography | 76 | 25% | 57% | 63% | 51% | 996 of 3,116 |
| Social Studies | 55 | 44% | 78% | 91% | 54% | 111 of 1,043 |
| History | 48 | 54% | 79% | 83% | 52% | 269 of 3,126 |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 39 | 28% | 67% | 74% | 52% | 277 of 1,098 |
| French | 31 | 19% | 39% | 61% | 60% | 1,655 of 1,974 |
| Physics | 23 | 44% | 96% | 100% | 82% | 747 of 2,546 |
| Chemistry | 23 | 74% | 96% | 100% | 81% | 759 of 2,537 |
| Biology | 23 | 83% | 100% | 100% | 82% | 86 of 2,570 |
| Art and Design | 22 | 23% | 55% | 86% | 58% | 1,622 of 2,818 |
| Design & Technology | 19 | 16% | 53% | 63% | 50% | – |
| Physical Education | 18 | 0% | 17% | 33% | 56% | – |
| Computer Science | 13 | 46% | 85% | 92% | 56% | – |
| Drama | 7 | 29% | 100% | 100% | 60% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. Every gap at this school is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test. As a Muslim school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
158 places were empty (20% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have grown by 4% since 2021/22.
How places were given out for September 2026.
| Entry | Places | Got a place | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Secondary | 145 | 145 | – | LA |
What parents say
From Ofsted's Parent View survey: 45 parents answered in the year to 6 April 2026. Parents choose whether to fill it in, and many only do so when an inspection is coming, so don't read too much into small differences. The England figures are the average for secondary schools with enough answers to publish.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (33), emotional and mental health (17), Specific learning difficulty (13), Physical disability (7), Hearing impairment (4), Vision impairment (3).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 659 | 636 | 637 | 625 | 618 | 497 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 46% | 43% | 41% | 42% | 36% | 32% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 50% | 51% | 55% | 60% | 61% | 65% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 9% | 9% | 9% | 8% | 9% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 3% | 2% | 1% | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 4.3% | 3.9% | 4.9% | 4.3% | 2.5% | 1.5% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 2.4% | 2.5% | 3.3% | 3.3% | 1.9% | 0.9% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.9% | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 0.6% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 10.3% | 9.5% | 9.2% | 8.4% | 4.2% | 2.1% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 1.7 | 2.7 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 119 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 98%, compared with 91% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers |
|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 94% | 96% |
| Education | 94% | 96% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 4% | 3% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other secondary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eden Boys' Leadership Academy, Manchester | Free school | 190 m | 664 | Report card 2026 | 94 | Compare |
| Manchester Communication Academy | Academy | 0.6 miles | 1,240 | Good 2024 | 59 | Compare |
| Abraham Moss Community School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 1,793 | Not inspected | 30 | Compare |
| The King David High School | Academy | 1.4 miles | 708 | Requires improvement 2023 | 54 | Compare |
| Beis Yaakov High School | Academy | 1.5 miles | 283 | No overall grade 2024 | 70 | Compare |
| The Albion Academy | Academy | 1.9 miles | 879 | Good 2023 | 52 | Compare |
| The East Manchester Academy | Academy | 2.0 miles | 1,035 | No overall grade 2025 | 45 | Compare |
| Co-op Academy Manchester | Academy | 2.1 miles | 1,554 | Good 2023 | 23 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester with the 48 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 48 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
No school with a similar mix of pupils within 25 km scores clearly higher.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 98 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 98% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 96 to 100. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 20% | above | +0.18 | 2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 129 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | well above | +0.38 | Ofsted report card, 0.3 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | well above | +0.35 | DfE progress measure; 129 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | above | +0.08 | results and attendance rising year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | well above | +0.14 | 2024/25; 658 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | well above | +0.27 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 129 pupils |
| What pupils do next | 5% | above | +0.03 | 119 pupils |
| What parents say | 5% | well above | +0.06 | Ofsted's Parent View survey, allowing for how many parents replied; 45 responses |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester a good school?
Yes, going by the figures. Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester scores 98 out of 100. That is well above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 96% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 96 to 100, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 12 May 2026 it rated teaching as exceptional, achievement as exceptional, behaviour and attendance as exceptional, leadership as exceptional.
How good are Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 64% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 58.2, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished about a grade ahead of children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester have?
659 pupils aged 11 to 18 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 800 places, so it is 82% full. It is a girls' school.
Is Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester oversubscribed?
Probably not. 158 places were empty in 2024/25 (20% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester?
Pupils were in school 95.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 10% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester?
98% of the 45 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 96% say their child is happy there. Across England, 77% of parents would recommend their child's school.
How big are the classes at Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester?
The average class had 25.7 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 35% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship; 94% of 2022/23 leavers were still in education, work or training six months on.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- 40 Rayburn Way, Manchester, M8 8DT
- Telephone
- 0161 329 7300
- Website
- www.edengirlsmanchester.com
- Headteacher
- Mrs Kulsum Vali
- Type of school
- Free school (Free schools, free schools)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-18
- Gender
- Girls
- Religious character
- Muslim
- Multi-academy trust
- Star Academies (36 schools)
- Local authority
- Manchester
- Ward
- Cheetham
- Constituency
- Manchester Central
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2017
- URN
- 144745 · LAESTAB 3524012 · UKPRN 10064835
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Manchester council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2026.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.