St Matthew's RC High School
Nuthurst Road, Moston, Manchester, M40 0EW
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- EMMAUS CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Andrew Nightingale
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Salford
- Sponsor
- Emmaus Catholic Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Blackley and Middleton South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,350
- Pupils on roll
- 1,327
- URN
- 148389
- Local authority
- Manchester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01616816178
About this school
St Matthew's RC High School is a Roman Catholic secondary academy in Manchester. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,327 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 279 | 278 | 278 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.1 | 36.9 | 37.8 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.83 -1.01 to -0.66 | -0.59 -0.77 to -0.41 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 25% | 22.3% | 25.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 44% | 45% | 47.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 29% | 17.3% | 17.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
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 St Matthew's RC 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 | 37.1 | 42.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 36.9 | 44.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 37.8 | 43.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,308 |
| 2023/24 | 1,289 |
| 2024/25 | 1,324 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Matthew's RC High School compares
St Matthew's RC High School ranked 26th of 30 secondary schools in Manchester for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 32% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37.8 | 7% | 59.2% | 1,327 | — |
| Co-op Academy North Manchester | 42.4 | 11.4% | 55.9% | 1,259 | 0.7 miles |
| Co-op Academy Failsworth | 43 | 9.5% | 47.3% | 1,434 | 1.5 miles |
| Saint John Henry Newman Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy | — | — | — | 1,469 | 1.6 miles |
| Oasis Academy Oldham | 42.8 | 9.3% | 54.6% | 1,415 | 2.0 miles |
| Co-op Academy Manchester | 44.9 | 13.2% | 52.9% | 1,554 | 2.0 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)
- 59.21%
- English as an additional language
- 27%
- Overall absence
- 7.04%
- Persistent absence
- 16.38%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Co-op Academy North Manchester0.7 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
Co-op Academy Failsworth1.5 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
Saint John Henry Newman Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Oldham
-
Oasis Academy Oldham2.0 miles
Secondary · Oldham
-
Co-op Academy Manchester2.0 miles
Secondary · Manchester
Other schools in Manchester
St Matthew's RC High School ranks 56th 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 year groups does St Matthew's RC High School teach?
- St Matthew's RC High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Manchester.
- Who is the headteacher of St Matthew's RC High School?
- The headteacher of St Matthew's RC High School is Mr Andrew Nightingale, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Matthew's RC High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Matthew's RC 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 big is St Matthew's RC High School?
- St Matthew's RC High School has 1,327 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is St Matthew's RC High School full?
- St Matthew's RC High School has capacity for 1,350 pupils and 1,327 on roll (98%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is St Matthew's RC High School a faith school?
- Yes. St Matthew's RC High School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Salford.
- Is St Matthew's RC High School a selective school?
- No. St Matthew's RC High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs St Matthew's RC High School?
- St Matthew's RC High School is part of EMMAUS CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have St Matthew's RC High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37.1 in 2022/23 and 37.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Matthew's RC High School rank locally?
- St Matthew's RC High School ranked 26th of 30 secondary schools in Manchester for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 32% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Matthew's RC High School's absence rate?
- St Matthew's RC High School's overall absence rate is 7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Matthew's RC High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Matthew's RC 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 2 July 2026.