School Chooser

Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery

Primary · ages 3-11MixedCouncil442 pupilsNursery Free breakfast clubNorthwichCheshire West and Chester
School Chooser Score
78
Above
similar schools
Likely range 61 to 88
Out of 100. Better than 58% of the 50 schools most like it. Much the same over the last five years.
OfstedGoodLast Ofsted inspection, April 2023
Reached the expected level at 1177%England 63%
Attendance95.0%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families6%Far fewer than most schools
PlacesFull442 pupils, 420 places
Pupils per teacher22.6School workforce census

Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery is a council school in Northwich for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 442 pupils, 22 more than it has places for. About 6 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 78 out of 100. That puts it above schools like it, ahead of 58% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.

Stones Manor Lane, Hartford, Northwich, CW8 1NU01606 663800hartfordmanorcpschool.co.ukMr Simon Kidwell headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 18 April 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Good overall.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Good
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Good
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Good
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Good
Early years
Requires improvement
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

60 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1177%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level12%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score107.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score106.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 56%56%20172018: 70%70%20182019: 71%71%20192023: 68%68%20232024: 77%77%20242025: 77%77%2025
Since 2017: +21%Steady overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017Cheshire West and ChesterEngland
Pupils tested606050515063
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths77%77%68%71%70%56%62%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths12%5%14%20%18%10%6%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score107.0108.0106.0106.0108.0104.0105.9105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score106.0107.0106.0107.0106.0104.0104.5104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score105.0106.0104.0107.0106.0105.0105.2105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard88%90%80%78%82%70%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard82%83%88%82%80%68%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)83%82%76%84%86%81%
Reading progressReading progress score+1.5+0.6+1.8-0.5
Maths progressMaths progress score+2.2+1.3+1.2-0.4
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged33%33%25%38%38%25%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged81%88%76%77%76%66%

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

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. None of the gaps 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 the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
33%81%
Gap 48 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
81%74%
Gap 7 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
0%12%
Gap 12 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

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

Admissions policy not published.

Catchment area

Cheshire West and Chester council has drawn an official catchment area for this school. You can see it on the map below; it covers about 2.0 square kilometres. Living inside it moves your child up the queue when there are more applicants than places. It doesn't guarantee a place: the council's admissions rules decide the order.

Set your home postcode at the top of the page to see whether you live inside it.

Nearly full412 pupils for 420 places, 2024/25
98% full

Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. Pupil numbers have grown by 8% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.

Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Cheshire West and Chester council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

What a home inside the catchment costs

Typical sale price inside the catchment£415,000half sold for £251k to £510k
Homes sold211December 2023 to December 2025, Land Registry
Compared with the district+59%a typical home in the district sells for £261,000

Every home sold inside the council's catchment area, of any type, from HM Land Registry records. If homes here cost more than the district average, that is the price people pay to live close enough to get in.

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.

Pupils on roll442Census January 2026
Places420105% full
Pupils from low-income families6%6% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English4%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support13%57 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan3%11 pupils with a plan
Average class size29.513 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils15%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)7%£44,950 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls236 / 206
White British pupils88%

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (27), emotional and mental health (23), Autistic spectrum disorder (8), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (6), Hearing impairment (1), Physical disability (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll442452449450432412
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals6%5%7%7%10%11%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language4%5%4%4%3%2%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support15%13%14%10%7%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans1%2%1%1%0%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.0% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance95.0%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school12.0%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils2.72024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.4%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence5.0%5.9%5.3%6.8%4.0%3.5%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.6%4.4%3.8%5.6%3.2%2.7%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.4%1.5%1.6%1.2%0.8%0.9%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence12.0%16.7%12.2%18.9%9.3%6.5%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate2.73.11.10.70.7
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers19.6full-time equivalent, 22 people
Pupils per teacher22.6Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants12.1full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£52,470
Teachers who left in the year7%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher0.22024/25

Money

From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£5,956England £7,738. Total £2.7m
Income per pupil£5,852England £7,697. Total £2.6m
Spent on teachers per pupil£3,000England £3,480
Money in reserve0%Very little put by: £10k, £22 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out-£47kit spent more than it took in this year
Where the money goes£5,956spent per pupil

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

Crimes within 500 m10912 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate38 per 1,000 people58% lower than the England average
Typical house price£260,000Cheshire West and Chester
Nearest bus stop410 mHigh School, 24 stops within 500 m

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 primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary SchoolRoman Catholic530 m191Good 202263Compare
Hartford Primary SchoolAcademy890 m396Good 202168Compare
Kingsmead Primary SchoolCouncil900 m308Good 202458Compare
Winnington Park Community Primary and Nursery SchoolCouncil0.7 miles420Report card 202645Compare
Charles Darwin Community Primary SchoolCouncil0.8 miles331Report card 202667Compare
Davenham CofE Primary SchoolAcademy1.2 miles302Good 2024Compare
Leftwich Community Primary SchoolAcademy1.3 miles161Good 202445Compare
St Bede's Catholic Primary School, WeaverhamRoman Catholic1.3 miles151Good 202378Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery with the 50 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 50 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats58%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the upper half of its group. Its score of 78 is 4 points above the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 11 · middle 74 · highest 98100

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 78 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 78% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 61 to 88. 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 atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%above
+0.16
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 60 pupils
Ofsted inspection19% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old)in line
+0.01
Ofsted grade, 3.4 years old
Progress pupils make20%above
+0.11
DfE progress measure; 60 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%in line
+0.03
results and attendance rising year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%in line
+0.02
2024/25; 367 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%in line
+0.03
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 60 pupils
What parents say0%no data

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 Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery a good school?

Yes, going by the figures. Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery scores 78 out of 100. That is above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 58% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 61 to 88, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.

What is Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery good at its last full inspection on 18 April 2023.

How good are Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 77% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 12% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery have?

442 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 420 places, so it is 105% full.

Is Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery oversubscribed?

Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.

What is attendance like at Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery?

Pupils were in school 95.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 12% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery?

The average class had 29.5 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 15% of classes had more than 30 pupils.

Does Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery have a breakfast club?

Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
Stones Manor Lane, Hartford, Northwich, CW8 1NU
Telephone
01606 663800
Website
www.hartfordmanorcpschool.co.uk
Headteacher
Mr Simon Kidwell
Free breakfast club
Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Cheshire West and Chester
Ward
Hartford & Greenbank
Constituency
Mid Cheshire
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
111144 · LAESTAB 8962329 · UKPRN 10068865

Where these figures come from