The Heys School

Academy sponsor led·Secondary school Manchester, Bury·M25 1JZ
Composite score
42.5
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#3,041
National rank
#418
In North West
#13
In Bury
Top 96%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
34.0
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
17%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
33%
% EBacc grade 5+
9%
EBacc average points score
2.88

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

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

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
52 first choices, 68 places
First choices per place
0.77
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
197
any preference, for 68 places
Applications from another council area
26%
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.08
00.511.5
1 per place
0.5620220.5320230.5620240.8520250.772026

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

Every child who put The Heys School 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
569
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
47.8%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
34.6%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
12.7%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
3.5%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
13.7%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
35.2%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
16.1
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£8,492
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
87%
142 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
85%
Apprenticeship
0%
Employment
2%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

School overview

The Heys School is a secondary school serving Manchester, Bury, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy. It has 569 pupils aged 11 to 16 on roll. At its most recent graded inspection, Ofsted rated The Heys School 'Good'. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 34.0 — well below the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has fallen by 7.3 points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

17% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 33% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made The Heys School their first choice was offered one of its 68 Year 7 places. After Year 11, 87% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 13.7%. There are about 16.1 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 48% 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. When you visit, you might ask how the school stretches its higher-attaining pupils and supports those who need to catch up. 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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