North Ridge High School
Alworth Road, Manchester, M9 0RP
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Shauna Johnson
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Blackley and Middleton South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 200
- Pupils on roll
- 207
- URN
- 132905
- Local authority
- Manchester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01615530200
About this school
North Ridge High School is a community special school in Manchester. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 207 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected North Ridge High School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 27 March 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Outstanding. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 30 | 32 | 30 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | - | - |
| Progress 8 score | - | - | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | - | - | - |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | - | - | - |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How North Ridge High School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 199 |
| 2023/24 | 202 |
| 2024/25 | 200 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 75.19%
- English as an additional language
- 27.5%
- Overall absence
- 11.56%
- Persistent absence
- 32.58%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Meade Hill School0.1 miles
Academies · Manchester
-
Prospect House Specialist Support Primary School0.6 miles
Free Schools · Manchester
-
Elizabeth House School1.1 miles
Independent schools
-
Camberwell Park Specialist Support School1.8 miles
Academies · Manchester
-
OYY Lubavitch Boys School1.9 miles
Independent schools · Salford
Other schools in Manchester
- Ashgate Specialist Support Primary School Special schools
- Bridge College Other types
- Bridgelea Pupil Referral Unit Local authority maintained schools
- Camberwell Park Specialist Support School Academies
- Cambian Tyldesley School Special schools
- Changing Lives Special schools
- Cloughside College Special schools
- Delamere School Special schools
- Digital Advantage Other types
- Egerton High School Special schools
- Fairfield House School Special schools
- Grange School Academies
Common questions
- What ages does North Ridge High School teach?
- North Ridge High School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a special school in Manchester.
- Who is the headteacher of North Ridge High School?
- The headteacher of North Ridge High School is Mrs Shauna Johnson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has North Ridge High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected North Ridge High School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at North Ridge High School?
- North Ridge High School has 207 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is North Ridge High School full?
- North Ridge High School has capacity for 200 pupils and 207 on roll (103%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is North Ridge High School a faith school?
- No. North Ridge High School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does North Ridge High School have?
- The schools register lists North Ridge High School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- What is North Ridge High School's absence rate?
- North Ridge High School's overall absence rate is 11.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are North Ridge High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, North Ridge High School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.