About Us

We are very proud of our school, which attracts students from across Greater Manchester and beyond. It first opened in 1834. Our founder, Thomas Henshaw, was a committed Anglican who left a bequest to fund a school which would provide education for the orphaned boys of the parish.

From these humble beginnings, the Blue Coat School has become one of the biggest and most successful schools in the country. The school has a national reputation for high quality teaching and learning, pastoral care, consistently excellent examination results and outstanding progress. Our most recent OFSTED re-inspection in December 2022 saw the school maintain it’s outstanding status in all categories. Blue Coat is grounded in tradition and history, and is evolving and forward looking. Our historic campus has been restored and developed extensively over the years; our students enjoy picnic lunches in front of a Grade II listed building but their learning takes place in superb 21st century classrooms, laboratories and studios.

Blue Coat is dedicated to serving young people, to enable them to become everything they can be and everything that they are meant to be. We are a Church of England school that welcomes members of other Christian denominations, and of other faiths.

Our Anglican beliefs, values and worship are at the core of our life together in school.