Manchester Enterprise Academy Central

Free schools·Secondary school Manchester·M14 6PL
Composite score
57.6
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#1,507
National rank
#180
In North West
#16
In Manchester
Top 48%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
46.1
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
44%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
70%
% EBacc grade 5+
12%
EBacc average points score
4.09

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Outstanding
Personal development
Outstanding
Leadership and management
Outstanding
Safeguarding effective?
Yes

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
149 first choices, 199 places
First choices per place
0.75
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
438
any preference, for 199 places
Applications from another council area
4%
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.08
00.511.5
1 per place
0.8920221.0220230.8220240.8320250.752026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put Manchester Enterprise Academy Central first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–16
Pupils on roll
1,056
Gender
Mixed

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
53.0%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
68.8%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
14.3%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
5.5%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
7.2%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
20.7%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
14.4
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£8,216
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
91%
210 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
90%
Apprenticeship
0%
Employment
1%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

About Manchester Enterprise Academy Central

Manchester Enterprise Academy Central is a secondary school in Manchester, classified by the DfE as a free school. Around 1,056 pupils aged 11 to 16 attend the school. The school holds a 'Good' judgement from Ofsted. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 46.1 — broadly in line with the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has fallen by 1.2 points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it around the middle of secondary schools nationally.

44% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, in line with the national average of about 45%. 70% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made Manchester Enterprise Academy Central their first choice was offered one of its 199 Year 7 places. After Year 11, 91% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 7.2%. There are about 14.4 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 53% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. Given the recent dip in results, it may be worth asking the school what is behind the change and what is being done in response. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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