Didsbury High School
4 The Avenue, Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2ET
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE LAURUS TRUST
- Headteacher
- Miss Katie Houghton
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Laurus Trust
- Constituency
- Manchester Withington
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,350
- Pupils on roll
- 1,220
- URN
- 143729
- Local authority
- Manchester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01615075600
About this school
Didsbury High School is a secondary academy in Manchester. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,220 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Didsbury 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 206 | 218 |
| Attainment 8 score | 57.3 | 57.1 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.67 +0.47 to +0.87 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 59.7% | 60.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 79.6% | 79.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 89.3% | 87.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.6 | 5.6 |
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 Didsbury 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 | Manchester average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 42.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 57.3 | 44.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 57.1 | 43.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 846 |
| 2023/24 | 1,089 |
| 2024/25 | 1,181 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Didsbury High School compares
Didsbury High School ranked 2nd of 30 secondary schools in Manchester for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 90% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57.1 | 8.2% | 40.4% | 1,220 | — |
| Loreto High School Chorlton | 46.6 | 9.3% | 55.6% | 742 | 0.5 miles |
| CHS South | 48.3 | 6.6% | 52.9% | 1,177 | 0.6 miles |
| Chorlton High School | 54 | 7.6% | 30.7% | 1,532 | 0.7 miles |
| Whalley Range 11-18 High School | 52.1 | 7.1% | 56.4% | 1,712 | 0.9 miles |
| The Barlow RC High School | 49.8 | 7.8% | 41.6% | 930 | 1.6 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 40.39%
- English as an additional language
- 33.8%
- Overall absence
- 8.21%
- Persistent absence
- 23.67%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Loreto High School Chorlton0.5 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
CHS South0.6 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
Chorlton High School0.7 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
Whalley Range 11-18 High School0.9 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
The Barlow RC High School1.6 miles
Secondary · Manchester
Other schools in Manchester
Didsbury High School ranks 4th of the 59 ranked secondary schools in Manchester.
- Audenshaw School Secondary
- Broadoak School Secondary
- Burnage Academy for Boys Secondary
- Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School Secondary
- Chorlton High School Secondary
- CHS South Secondary
- Co-op Academy Belle Vue Secondary
- Co-op Academy Failsworth Secondary
- Co-op Academy Manchester Secondary
- Co-op Academy North Manchester Secondary
- Co-op Academy Swinton Secondary
- Co-op Academy Walkden Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Didsbury High School teach?
- Didsbury High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Manchester.
- Who is the headteacher of Didsbury High School?
- The headteacher of Didsbury High School is Miss Katie Houghton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Didsbury High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Didsbury 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 Didsbury High School?
- Didsbury High School has 1,220 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Didsbury High School full?
- Didsbury High School has capacity for 1,350 pupils and 1,220 on roll (90%), so it has space against 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 Didsbury High School a faith school?
- No. Didsbury High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Didsbury High School a selective school?
- No. Didsbury High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Didsbury High School part of an academy trust?
- Didsbury High School is part of THE LAURUS TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Didsbury High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 57.3 in 2023/24 and 57.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Didsbury High School compare with other schools in Manchester?
- Didsbury High School ranked 2nd of 30 secondary schools in Manchester for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 90% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Didsbury High School's absence rate?
- Didsbury High School's overall absence rate is 8.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Didsbury High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Didsbury 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 10 July 2026.