Star Radcliffe Academy
Star Radcliffe Academy is a free school in Radcliffe for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 286 pupils and room for 750. About 41 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England.
Spring Lane, Radcliffe, M26 2SZ0161 329 7400starradcliffe.orgMr Lee Woods headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet. That is normal for a school that opened in 2024: new schools usually get their first inspection within three years.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
0 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
The government hasn't published this school's headline results. Fewer than eleven pupils sat the exams, so the figures could identify individual children.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
605 places were empty (81% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in.
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 Bury council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (25), language and communications needs (23), Specific learning difficulty (10), Other difficulty or disability (7), Moderate learning difficulty (5), Physical disability (4).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 286 | 149 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 41% | 44% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 10% | 11% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 26% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 93.0% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 7.0% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.9% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 22.3% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 47.0 | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | – |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Derby High School | Academy | 1.4 miles | – | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| Philips High School | Academy | 1.6 miles | 868 | Requires improvement 2022 | 66 | Compare |
| Bury Church of England High School | Academy | 1.7 miles | 802 | Report card 2026 | 55 | Compare |
| St Gabriel's RC High School, a Voluntary Academy | Academy | 1.8 miles | 1,027 | Good 2023 | 40 | Compare |
| Unsworth Academy | Academy | 2.1 miles | 953 | Good 2019 | 59 | Compare |
| The Elton High School | Council | 2.5 miles | 1,017 | Report card 2026 | 31 | Compare |
| Little Lever School | Academy | 2.5 miles | 1,085 | Report card 2026 | 45 | Compare |
| The Heys School | Academy | 2.7 miles | 546 | Good 2024 | 9 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Star Radcliffe Academy a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score Star Radcliffe Academy yet.
How many pupils does Star Radcliffe Academy have?
286 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 750 places, so it is 38% full.
Is Star Radcliffe Academy oversubscribed?
Probably not. 605 places were empty in 2024/25 (81% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Star Radcliffe Academy?
Pupils were in school 93.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 22% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Star Radcliffe Academy?
The average class had 23.8 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 42% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does Star Radcliffe Academy have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Spring Lane, Radcliffe, M26 2SZ
- Telephone
- 0161 329 7400
- Website
- www.starradcliffe.org
- Headteacher
- Mr Lee Woods
- Type of school
- Free school (Free schools, free schools)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- Star Academies (36 schools)
- Local authority
- Bury
- Ward
- Radcliffe East
- Constituency
- Bury South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2024 (academy free school)
- URN
- 150715 · LAESTAB 3514008 · UKPRN 10095884
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.
- 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.