Academy sponsor led

St Matthew's RC High School

Mixed · ages 11–16 · no sixth form · Roman CatholicManchester, North West · Manchester M40 0EWTrust: Emmaus Catholic Academy TrustSchool website
Pupils on roll
1,327of 1,350 places
Free school meals
59.1%
Year 11 cohort 2025
278
Ofsted
Inspected, 15 October 2024Read the Ofsted report

Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: St Matthew's RC High School (URN 105577, until 28 February 2021).

What the data says

St Matthew's RC High School has no sixth form. Of the 279 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 42% moved to a sixth form college, 34% to a further education college and 2% started an apprenticeship.

Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 42% of leavers went to one, roughly three times the England rate of 13%.

11% of leavers were not in sustained education, employment or training six months on, compared with 6% nationally.

GCSE results in 2025 were well below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 37.8 against 46.1 across England and 44.8 in Manchester, with 26% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).

Where pupils went after Year 11

Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Manchester and England.

St Matthew's RC High School
Manchester
England
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
MeasureSt Matthew's RC High SchoolManchesterEngland
Pupils in the cohort2796,414607,348
Any sustained destination84%89%92%
Stayed in education80%86%86%
— school sixth form3%15%34%
— sixth form college42%30%13%
— further education college34%39%37%
— other education1%3%2%
Apprenticeship2%1%3%
Employment2%2%3%
No sustained destination11%7%6%
Destination unknown6%4%3%

GCSE results 2025

MeasureSt Matthew's RC High SchoolManchesterEngland
Attainment 8 (average points per pupil)37.844.846.1
Grade 5 or above in English and maths26%41%45%
Grade 4 or above in English and maths48%61%65%
Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects18%47%41%
EBacc average point score3.064.014.09
Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort56%52%28%
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils32.739.434.9
Attainment 8 — other pupils44.250.650.4
Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2)
English as an additional language28%44%19%

Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.

Subjects taken at GCSE

Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEnglandGrades 7–9EnglandGrades 4–9
English Language27298%89%8%20%49%
Mathematics27298%88%10%22%56%
English Literature26997%86%10%21%53%
Religious Studies26294%31%18%32%53%
Combined Science22782%65%2%9%37%
History9735%41%9%26%40%
Geography9534%41%13%25%39%
Drama5520%7%0%27%42%
Biology4215%23%31%45%86%
Art and Design4115%7%10%24%76%
Physics3914%23%56%46%90%
Chemistry3914%23%56%47%92%
French3613%18%25%29%69%
Spanish3312%19%33%27%67%
Food Preparation and Nutrition3312%8%0%21%33%
Photography186%6%0%19%39%
Computer Science166%13%13%30%44%
German114%5%45%33%91%
Music93%5%44%33%89%
Italian93%0%44%53%89%
Polish41%1%84%
Portuguese10%0%50%
Arabic10%1%47%
Chinese10%1%75%

Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEngland
Computer Appreciation / Introduction68
Sports Studies65
Health Studies45
Small Business Management39
Art and Design27
Multimedia14
Hospitality / Catering Studies11
Music performance: Group8
Animal Care (Non-Agricultural)1

Other secondary schools in Manchester

Cedar Mount Academy

Academy sponsor led · 724 pupils

83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.2

CHS South

Free schools · 1,177 pupils

85% stayed in education · Attainment 8 48.3

Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.