Laurus Ryecroft

School overview

Laurus Ryecroft is a secondary school serving Manchester, Tameside, classified by the DfE as a free school. It has 1,142 pupils aged 11 to 18 on roll. At its most recent graded inspection, Ofsted rated Laurus Ryecroft 'Outstanding'. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 51.6, above the national average of 46. That is down 0.7 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the top 23% of secondary schools nationally.

50% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, above the national average of about 45%. 74% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Competition for places is real here - 70% of first-choice applicants were offered a Year 7 place for September 2026 (270 first choices for 198 places). The council's own allocation figures show the last child offered a place for 2026 lived 1.21 miles away in a straight line — that distance is not a fixed catchment and moves each year. 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 7.6%. There are about 12.7 pupils per teacher. 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.