Manchester Communication Academy

Manchester · M40 8NT

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 1240 pupils, 63.1% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 18.2% on SEN support Behaviour 8.0% absence rate Staff 20.9% turnover Financials £8,961 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Manchester Communication Academy

General Information

Address: Silchester Drive, Harpurhey, Manchester, M40 8NT – View on map
Phone: 01612020161
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Ms Susan Watmough
Age range: 11-16 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 207 families put it first for 287 places – 7 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 9 of the 287 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 8 · 2025 8 · 2026 7
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1240 pupils out of 1200 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 782
% eligible for free school meals: 63.1%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Manchester average)
English as an additional language: 40% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 20.9% a year (Manchester 17.1%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 36% moved to another school, 64% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Manchester: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 48 (1.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 96 (2.5 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 61 (1.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Manchester, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 8.0%
Persistently absent pupils: 20.1%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 18.2%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 5.0%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 69 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 64 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 42 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 19 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 8 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 24 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 18 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 5 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 4 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 3 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

–

School Ethos

–

Ability to Deal with Problems

–

Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2024 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 44.5
Compared with the area: 2.0 points below the Manchester average (46.5)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (+5.7 points against an expected 38.8)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 60% (Manchester 64%, England 65%) Falling
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolManchester averageEngland↘ Falling Down 6.8 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 2.0 points below the Manchester average (46.5).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

22nd of 30 secondary schools in Manchester for Attainment 8

#20Manchester Academy45.4
#21Co-op Academy Manchester44.9
#22Manchester Communication Academy44.5
#23Co-op Academy North Manchester42.4
#24The East Manchester Academy41.9

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester58.2
#2Didsbury High School57.1
#3The King David High School55.4
#4Chorlton High School54.0
#5Eden Boys' Leadership Academy, Manchester53.1
#6Levenshulme High School52.5
#7Whalley Range 11-18 High School52.1
#8William Hulme's Grammar School51.9
#9Trinity CofE High School50.0
#10The Barlow RC High School49.8
#11Our Lady's RC High School49.1
#12Wright Robinson College49.1
#13CHS South48.3
#14Parrs Wood High School48.1
#15St Peter's RC High School47.4
#16Burnage Academy for Boys46.6
#17Dean Trust Ardwick46.6
#18Loreto High School Chorlton46.6
#19Manchester Enterprise Academy Central46.1
#20Manchester Academy45.4
#21Co-op Academy Manchester44.9
#22Manchester Communication Academy44.5
#23Co-op Academy North Manchester42.4
#24The East Manchester Academy41.9
#25Abraham Moss Community School39.7
#26St Matthew's RC High School37.8
#27Manchester Enterprise Academy37.5
#28Cedar Mount Academy37.2
#29Dixons Brooklands Academy36.1
#30Saint Paul's Catholic High School33.3

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 84.0%
Went into further education: 81.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
English Literature
Science Double Award
Geography
Art & Design
Spanish
History
French Language
Computer Science
Photography
Music Studies (General)
Biology
Chemistry (General)
Physics (General)
Religious Studies
Speech & Drama
Arabic
Italian
Persian Language
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Urdu
Chinese

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

10th of 20 secondary schools in Manchester for Ofsted rating

#8Dean Trust ArdwickGood
#9Manchester AcademyGood
#10Manchester Communication AcademyGood
#11Manchester Enterprise Academy CentralGood
#12Parrs Wood High SchoolGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Burnage Academy for BoysOutstanding
#2Co-op Academy Belle VueOutstanding
#3Didsbury High SchoolOutstanding
#4Levenshulme High SchoolOutstanding
#5CHS SouthGood
#6Co-op Academy ManchesterGood
#7Co-op Academy North ManchesterGood
#8Dean Trust ArdwickGood
#9Manchester AcademyGood
#10Manchester Communication AcademyGood
#11Manchester Enterprise Academy CentralGood
#12Parrs Wood High SchoolGood
#13Saint Paul's Catholic High SchoolGood
#14St Peter's RC High SchoolGood
#15The Barlow RC High SchoolGood
#16Trinity CofE High SchoolGood
#17Whalley Range 11-18 High SchoolGood
#18William Hulme's Grammar SchoolGood
#19Loreto High School ChorltonRequires improvement
#20The King David High SchoolRequires improvement

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,961 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

15th of 32 secondary schools in Manchester for spending per pupil

#13Co-op Academy North Manchester£9,059
#14Dean Trust Ardwick£9,022
#15Manchester Communication Academy£8,961
#16Dixons Brooklands Academy£8,863
#17Our Lady's RC High School£8,850

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1The King David High School£9,700
#2The East Manchester Academy£9,674
#3St Peter's RC High School£9,603
#4Saint Paul's Catholic High School£9,550
#5Dixons Newall Green Academy£9,475
#6Cedar Mount Academy£9,434
#7Manchester Academy£9,432
#8Loreto High School Chorlton£9,349
#9Burnage Academy for Boys£9,348
#10The Barlow RC High School£9,254
#11Manchester Enterprise Academy£9,199
#12Wright Robinson College£9,078
#13Co-op Academy North Manchester£9,059
#14Dean Trust Ardwick£9,022
#15Manchester Communication Academy£8,961
#16Dixons Brooklands Academy£8,863
#17Our Lady's RC High School£8,850
#18Levenshulme High School£8,772
#19Co-op Academy Belle Vue£8,701
#20Abraham Moss Community School£8,559
#21Trinity CofE High School£8,527
#22St Matthew's RC High School£8,498
#23Eden Boys' Leadership Academy, Manchester£8,451
#24Co-op Academy Manchester£8,449
#25Manchester Enterprise Academy Central£8,216
#26CHS South£8,152
#27William Hulme's Grammar School£8,040
#28Whalley Range 11-18 High School£8,002
#29Chorlton High School£7,999
#30Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester£7,991
#31Parrs Wood High School£7,928
#32Didsbury High School£7,721

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Manchester: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered