Important advice for Altrincham residents

This advice is for Traford residents in WA14 and WA15 post code areas.

High schools

High schools in Altrincham are significantly oversubscribed and each year some catchment area children do not get a place at their preferred schools. To give yourself the best chance of getting a local place, we strongly advise you to include all your catchment schools on your application.

In the Altrincham area, 67 families in 2022 and 55 families in 2023 did not follow this advice and were allocated a school in another area of Trafford.

There are 4 high schools in Altrincham.

Altrincham College, North Cestrian School and Wellington School give priority to children that live in the Altrincham area, closest to each school in straight line distance. If you are applying for high school places, you are advised to include all 3 of these schools somewhere in your list of 5 preferences.

Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College (BTHCC) gives priority to baptised Catholic children that attend a Catholic primary school in Trafford and then to other baptised Catholic children. In the 2023 transfer process most baptised Catholic children, regardless of the primary school they attended, were allocated a place at BTHCC where they had listed the school as a preference. Therefore, parents of baptised Catholic children are advised to include BTHCC as one of their 5 preferences. To be considered as a baptised Catholic you must provide a copy of the child’s baptismal certificate directly to the school.

Sale High School includes Altrincham postcodes in its catchment area, you are also advised to include it in your application.

To have the best chance of achieving a place locally, you are advised to list all your catchment schools as preferences. We will accommodate your preference wherever possible but there is no guarantee of a place at any of your preferred schools. Given the level of demand for places, you must consider what will happen if you do not achieve a place at your preferred schools.

If you choose not to follow the advice, we are unable to provide travel assistance if you are allocated a school further away, unless you are a low-income family that meet the criteria.

Grammar schools

Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls and Sale Grammar School are not oversubscribed from children living in the catchment area. This means that all children in the Altrincham area that pass the entrance examination and apply on time, have achieved places at these schools on national offer day in all recent years.