Didsbury High School is a mixed secondary free school in Manchester, Manchester City Council, teaching 1,220 pupils aged 11 to 18. Ofsted rated it Outstanding at its last graded inspection in January 2024. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 57.1 (England 46.1). The 2025–2026 school year runs from 1 September 2025 to 13 July 2026.

Ofsted inspection

The latest published Ofsted judgement for Didsbury High School.

Latest inspection
Outstanding Overall effectiveness
Quality of educationOutstanding
Behaviour & attitudesOutstanding
Personal developmentOutstanding
Leadership & managementOutstanding
Sixth formOutstanding
S5 Inspection · Inspected 30 Jan 2024 · Published 10 Mar 2024
Read full Ofsted report ↗

Scale: Outstanding Good Requires improvement Inadequate

Term dates & holidays 2025–2026

Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for Didsbury High School.

Didsbury High School term dates calendar 2025–2026
Official term-dates calendar · 2025–2026 · source

Interactive Calendar

September 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1–30 Autumn Term 2025
  • 1 In-service Day
October 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–31 Autumn Term 2025
  • 24 In-service Day
  • 27–31 Autumn Half Term 2025
November 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1–30 Autumn Term 2025
December 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–19 Autumn Term 2025
  • 22–31 Christmas Holiday
  • 25 Christmas Day
  • 26 Boxing Day
January 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–2 Christmas Holiday
  • 1 New Year’s Day
  • 5–31 Spring Term 2026
February 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
  • 1–28 Spring Term 2026
  • 16–20 Spring Half Term 2026
March 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–31 Spring Term 2026
April 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1–2 Spring Term 2026
  • 3 Good Friday
  • 6 Easter Monday
  • 6–17 Easter Holiday
  • 20–30 Summer Term 2026
May 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–31 Summer Term 2026
  • 4 Early May Bank Holiday
  • 25–29 Summer Half Term 2026
  • 25 Spring Bank Holiday
June 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1–30 Summer Term 2026
  • 19 In-service Day
July 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–13 Summer Term 2026
  • 13 In-service Day
  • 14–31 Summer Holiday
  • 14 In-service Day
August 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–31 Summer Holiday
  • 31 Summer Bank Holiday

Key dates (2025–2026)

  • Autumn Term 2025 Sep 1, 2025 - Dec 19, 2025 Term
  • Autumn Half Term 2025 Oct 27, 2025 - Oct 31, 2025 Holiday
  • Christmas Holiday Dec 22, 2025 - Jan 2, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Term 2026 Jan 5, 2026 - Apr 2, 2026 Term
  • Spring Half Term 2026 Feb 16, 2026 - Feb 20, 2026 Holiday
  • Good Friday Apr 3, 2026 Event
  • Easter Monday Apr 6, 2026 Holiday
  • Easter Holiday Apr 6, 2026 - Apr 17, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Term 2026 Apr 20, 2026 - Jul 13, 2026 Term
  • Summer Half Term 2026 May 25, 2026 - May 29, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Holiday Jul 14, 2026 - Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
  • Early May Bank Holiday May 4, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Bank Holiday May 25, 2026 Holiday
  • New Year’s Day Jan 1, 2026 Event
  • Summer Bank Holiday Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
  • Christmas Day Dec 25, 2025 Holiday
  • Boxing Day Dec 26, 2025 Event
  • In-service Day Sep 1, 2025 Event
  • In-service Day Oct 24, 2025 Event
  • In-service Day Jun 19, 2026 Event
  • In-service Day Jul 13, 2026 Event
  • In-service Day Jul 14, 2026 Event

Exam results & performance

DfE performance tables Official results, 2024–2025 GOV.UK ↗
57.1 Attainment 8 England 46.1 Top 10%
60.6% Grade 5+ English & maths England 45.4% Top 15%
37.47 A level average score England 35 Top 28%
23.7% Persistent absence England 17.8%

The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare Didsbury High School with Manchester City Council and England.

Key stage 4 (GCSE) 57.1 Attainment 8 score

Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.

This school Manchester City Council England

Attainment 8 score · Average across 8 GCSEs, out of 90 57.1
Manchester City Council 44.8 England 46.1 +11 vs England
Grade 5+ in English & maths · A strong pass 60.6%
Manchester City Council 41.3% England 45.4% +15.2 vs England
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils 50.8
Manchester City Council 39.4 England 34.9 +15.9 vs England
Disadvantage gap · Attainment 8 points; smaller is better 11.1
Manchester City Council 11.2 England 15.5 -4.4 vs England
Disadvantaged pupils in the year group · Context for the scores above 43.1%
Manchester City Council 51.8% England 28.2%
Pupils in the year group · Small cohorts swing wildly 218
16 to 18 (A level & sixth form) 37.47 A level average point score

Results for students finishing post-16 study.

This school Manchester City Council England

A level average point score · Per entry, 50 = A* 37.47
Manchester City Council 36.44 England 35 +2.5 vs England
A level students · Small cohorts swing wildly 29
Attendance 23.7% Persistently absent pupils

Absence across the whole school year.

This school Manchester City Council England

Persistently absent pupils · Missed 10%+ of sessions; lower is better 23.7%
Manchester City Council 18.7% England 17.8% +5.9 vs England
Overall absence · Lower is better 8.2%
Manchester City Council 6.9% England 6.8% +1.5 vs England
About this data source & caveats

Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.

We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.

Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for Didsbury High School. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.

Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Location & catchment area

Indicative catchment Other secondary schools

Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to Didsbury High School than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.