School Chooser

Highfield Primary School

Primary · ages 3-11MixedCouncil288 pupilsNurseryManchesterTrafford
School Chooser Score
57
In line with
similar schools
Likely range 34 to 76
Out of 100. Better than 56% of the 50 schools most like it. Slipping year on year.
OfstedGoodConfirmed by Ofsted, February 2023
Reached the expected level at 1160%England 63%
Attendance96.6%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families19%A bit fewer than most schools
Places44 spare288 pupils, 332 places
Pupils per teacher19.1School workforce census

Highfield Primary School is a council school in Manchester for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 288 pupils and room for 332. About 19 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit fewer than at most schools. We give it 57 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 56% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.

Bridgenorth Avenue, Urmston, Manchester, M41 9PA0161 748 6096highfield-primary.trafford.sch.ukMrs Claire Brown headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

A shorter visit on 23 February 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

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

Reached the expected level at 1160%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level0%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score105.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score103.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 69%69%20172018: 73%73%20182019: 75%75%20192023: 76%76%20232024: 68%68%20242025: 60%60%2025
Since 2017: -9%Declining overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017TraffordEngland
Pupils tested434142403739
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths60%68%76%75%73%69%71%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths0%12%14%15%14%10%13%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score105.0107.0107.0106.0105.0106.0107.7105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score103.0106.0106.0106.0105.0106.0107.0104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score105.0106.0107.0108.0105.0108.0107.9105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard74%83%83%83%78%77%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard72%85%88%88%81%82%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)74%76%79%90%92%90%
Reading progressReading progress score+1.7+0.3-1.0+2.4
Maths progressMaths progress score+1.7-0.3-1.3+2.3
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged33%78%29%56%50%57%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged68%66%86%81%79%72%

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. 1 of the 3 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%68%
Gap 35 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
65%57%
Gap 8 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
0%0%
No gapEngland 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.

Nearly full274 pupils for 280 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 stayed about the same since 2021/22.

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 Trafford council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

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 roll288Census January 2026
Places33287% full
Pupils from low-income families19%19% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English12%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support11%31 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan1%4 pupils with a plan
Average class size25.77 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils0%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)18%£72,850 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls142 / 146
White British pupils68%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 24.5 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 27.3 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (19), language and communications needs (13), Moderate learning difficulty (1), Other difficulty or disability (1), Specific learning difficulty (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll288300308312307308
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals19%18%16%16%17%17%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language12%12%14%14%12%10%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support12%12%10%10%10%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans1%1%1%3%2%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 96.6% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance96.6%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school4.9%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils0.72024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission0.6%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence3.4%4.3%4.0%4.9%2.3%3.3%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence2.8%3.7%3.5%4.4%2.0%2.6%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence0.6%0.6%0.6%0.5%0.2%0.7%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence4.9%11.0%8.4%7.4%4.5%3.7%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate0.70.00.31.00.3
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

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

Teachers14.9full-time equivalent, 19 people
Pupils per teacher19.1Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants8.7full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£50,879
Teachers who left in the year13%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher8.62024/25

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£6,400England £7,738. Total £1.9m
Income per pupil£6,129England £7,697. Total £1.8m
Spent on teachers per pupil£3,094England £3,480
Money in reserve2%Very little put by: £38k, £127 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out-£81kit spent more than it took in this year
Where the money goes£6,400spent 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

Local crime rate0 per 1,000 people100% lower than the England average
Typical house price£365,000Trafford
Nearest bus stop140 mSt Antony's Roman Catholic School, 12 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 Hugh of Lincoln RC Primary SchoolRoman Catholic560 m324Good 202486Compare
Davyhulme Primary SchoolCouncil0.7 miles511Outstanding 202498Compare
Kingsway Primary SchoolAcademy0.7 miles193Good 2023Compare
Moss Park Primary SchoolCouncil0.7 miles464No overall grade 202580Compare
Barton Clough Primary SchoolAcademy0.7 miles155Good 202437Compare
English Martyrs' RC Primary School, a Voluntary AcademyAcademy0.8 miles209Good 2023Compare
Urmston Primary SchoolCouncil0.9 miles497Good 202380Compare
St Matthew's CofE Primary SchoolChurch of England1.1 miles141Good 202217Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Highfield Primary School 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.

Beats56%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the upper half of its group. Its score of 57 is about the same as the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 6 · middle 55 · highest 100100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 50 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Highfield Primary School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
The Gates Primary SchoolCouncil10.7 miles290Good 202380Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 57 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 57% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 34 to 76. 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%in line
+0.02
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 43 pupils
Ofsted inspection19% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old)in line
+0.01
Ofsted grade, 3.6 years old
Progress pupils make20%above
+0.11
DfE progress measure; 43 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%well below
-0.17
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%well above
+0.12
2024/25; 246 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%in line
-0.01
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 43 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 Highfield Primary School a good school?

It is about average. Highfield Primary School scores 57 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 56% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 34 to 76, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.

What is Highfield Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Highfield Primary School good at its last full inspection on 23 February 2023.

How good are Highfield Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 60% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 0% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Highfield Primary School have?

288 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 332 places, so it is 87% full.

Is Highfield Primary School oversubscribed?

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

What is attendance like at Highfield Primary School?

Pupils were in school 96.6% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 5% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Highfield Primary School?

The average class had 25.7 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.

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

Contact and details

Address
Bridgenorth Avenue, Urmston, Manchester, M41 9PA
Telephone
0161 748 6096
Website
www.highfield-primary.trafford.sch.uk
Headteacher
Mrs Claire Brown
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Trafford
Ward
Stretford & Humphrey Park
Constituency
Stretford and Urmston
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
106329 · LAESTAB 3582058 · UKPRN 10068780

Where these figures come from