The Dean Trust Ardwick occupies the corner of Stockport Road and Langport Avenue in what is now Ardwick.  The corner has been open ground for many years after the shops and pubs that lined Stockport Road were demolished.  The only building of note along that stretch of Stockport Road was the iconic Daisy Mill but it has also been demolished to make way for the new school's sports fields.

Designed by Atkins and built by Laing O'Rourke it was completed in 2016. The designers describe it as, "... Manchester’s fastest ever built school, opening its door just 12 months after design and construction began.  .... Designed by Atkins to provide a high quality, flexible space where young people can develop both in and outside of the classroom, the school’s impressive construction programme was achieved using Select Schools, a Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) solution created by Laing O’Rourke, with modular units constructed offsite.   By using offsite technology construction time was drastically reduced, minimising waste and work within a heavily constrained brownfield site. Construction of the school began in a factory before site clearance and demolition was completed. All this was achieved without compromising the integrity of the teaching and learning environment."

Dean Trust Ardwick was actually founded in 2015, even before the building was erected.  As of 2017 it accommodates years 7, 8 & 9 but will have a full compliment of students by 2019.  This is the first new secondary school, in the immediate area, since the closure and demolition of Ardwick Technical High School, Ardwick Girls School and the changes at Nicholl's Ardwick.  The school describes itself as, ".... a local school for local children, and we are here to provide a first class education for the pupils who attend the school, and to serve the community."