The battle between families for high school places in the 'world class' Greater Manchester borough

When Richard Midgley's daughter was moving up to secondary school in 2022 she applied to five places, but didn't get in any. The family, of Bowdon, later discovered they were just four metres outside the catchment zone for their first choice, North Cestrian in Altrincham.

"We were in a kind of educational no-man's land," says Richard. They're not alone.

On Friday (March 1) hundreds of thousands of kids across the country discovered where they'd be going to high school. It can be an extremely stressful time for both parents and children.

READ MORE: The hardest schools to get a place at in every borough of Greater Manchester

READ MORE: The Greater Manchester state schools which sent the most students to Oxbridge universities

And in Trafford, especially in the more affluent towns and villages in the south of the borough, demand for places is particularly fierce. Last year 75.6 per cent got a place at their first choice school, compared to a national average of 82.6%. For children starting high school this September the figure rose to 79% in Trafford.

Competition is so tough the council has taken to publishing what amounts to a disclaimer on the application forms. "All secondary schools in the Altrincham and Sale areas are significantly oversubscribed," it reads.

"It is frequently the case that some catchment area children do not achieve places in their preferred schools."

'You have to live in the playground to get a place'

Last year 92 children from Sale and Altrincham didn't get a place at any of their preferred schools. They were all allocated places in either Partington, Lostock or Flixton, but depending on their home address those schools can be more than an hour's journey away on public transport.

Others chose to leave the county altogether and go to school in Cheshire, in towns such as Lymm and Knutsford.

"They tell you you have a choice, but it's absolute nonsense," says Alexandra Macleod, deputy chair at the parent teacher friends association at North Cestrian. "It just doesn't work that way.

"I joke that you have to live in the playground to get a place at some of these schools."

The causes of Trafford's education headache are complex. The borough is unique in Greater Manchester in that it's home to seven grammar schools.

They include both Altrincham Grammar School for Girls and Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, recently named the first and second best state secondary schools in the north west by the Sunday Times. Four other Trafford grammar schools - Sale, Loreto in Altrincham, Urmston and St Ambrose College in Hale Barns - also made the top 10.

The high standards mean parents from across Greater Manchester and Cheshire go to great lengths to ensure their children are educated in Trafford. But that inevitably means there's less space for local children.

Education bosses say Trafford's grammar schools admit almost a third of their pupils from outside the borough, while council figures show that over the last three years an average of one in six Y7 pupils across all secondary schools lived outside Trafford.

And while in the last decade Trafford's overall population has grown at rate slightly below the national average, it's thought the number of families with school-age children moving to the borough has expanded fairly significantly.

Education bosses describe an 'unprecedented increase' in recent years of children moving into Trafford midway through their education, creating 'significant pressure' on school places. And there's also been an influx of mainly wealthy Hong Kong nationals to the area, attracted in part by the top class schools.

"The grammar school system doesn't reflect the diversity of the area," said Lisa Waterhouse, of Bowdon, one of the organisers of a campaign to expand North Cestrian. "Parents are tutoring their kids to within an inch of their lives to get in and you've also got kids coming in from areas outside the borough.

"Then the local kids who don't get into a grammar have to apply for schools in areas that are hugely oversubscribed, so actually you don't have a choice where you go. It's a totally bonkers system."

"Children who would normally be going to their local grammar school are not able to because kids are coming in from all sorts of far flung places," added Alexandra Macleod. "And it's also about the inequality of the facilities.

"My son can't play football between October and March because North Cestrian doesn't have astroturf, but Altrincham Boys has. How is that right? The inequality of the system has been a massive eye-opener."

'All grammar schools should be able to expand - politics is getting in the way'

But not everyone agrees that the sharp-elbowed middle classes are to blame for increasing pressure on places. "Is it right that we're bussing in kids from outside the area? Probably not, but that's certainly not the real issue," says Oliver Carroll, the Conservative candidate for the General Election and an Altrincham Grammar old boy.

"The reality is the grammars have always taken pupils from outside and if you speak to the heads they say the proportion of out of area kids has gone down in recent years."

If elected to succeed Sir Graham Brady, Mr Carroll says he will be campaigning for a new high school to be built in the south of Trafford and also believes the grammar schools should be helped and encouraged to increase their pupil intake.

"All grammar schools in the borough should be able to expand, but I think politics is getting in the way," he added.

'Teachers can't afford to live here'

But it's not just the demand from outside areas causing the pressures. James Starnes, district secretary for the Trafford branch of the NEU, says recruitment and retention of teaching staff is also part of the problem - especially in areas like Hale, Sale and Altrincham.

"We're in an area where house prices rival London, but the starting salary for a teacher is £30,000 a year," he said. "One, even two, teacher households just can't afford to live here."

And James says the scramble for places also creates a lot of uncertainty for teachers.

"Schools have to make very difficult decisions about class sizes," he said. "As a teacher you're thinking 'Is my class size going to balloon?', 'What calibre of students am I going to get next year?'"

'It's vital we find ways to increase the number of places', Trafford says, as it sets aside £105m

In many ways the council's hands are tied. It doesn't have the power to oversee admissions for 18 of the borough's 19 secondary schools as they're either faith schools or run by academy trusts.

But, despite that, efforts are being made to ease the pressure on schools. By the end of 2026 around £105m will have been spent expanding 38 schools across the borough to provide an extra 4,646 places.

Between 2020-21 Stretford grammar and both Altrincham boys and girls grammar schools increased their class sizes by a total of 460 pupils. Plans are also in the pipeline to increase Altrincham College by an extra 300 places from September 2025, while the council is also looking at the possibility of expanding both North Cestrian and Broadoak school in Partington.

Coun Karina Carter, Trafford council's executive member for children and young people, said: "It's understandable that there is such demand for school places thanks to the world-class education our schools provide for pupils. We understand how disappointing it can be for both for parents and for children if they don’t get into their school of choice.

"Trafford Council does offer guidance to parents in these areas as to where they are most likely to be successful when applying for a place. We've also secured more places at Altrincham College for this year so that more children can attend a school locally.

"Despite the increase in demand, 75% of parents who submitted on time applications last year received their first preference and 91% got one of their top three preferences. Thanks to our efforts, this year's figures see 79% of pupils offered their first placement and 95% offered one of their top three preferences.

"It is clear that the demand for school places in the Altrincham and Sale planning area can no longer be met within the current offer, and it is vital that we now find ways to increase the number of places. We are working closely with North Cestrian School to try and secure the site of the former Loreto Prep School for further expansion.

"We also wrote to the Secretary of State for Education last year regarding a shortfall of places in the Altrincham and Sale planning area. We explained the current situation where currently we have 19 secondary schools, seven of those being selective and we are the admission authority for only one of those schools.

"We asked the government to work with our grammar schools to review their admissions criteria so that Trafford residents are given priority over those living outside of the borough. Currently our grammar schools admit almost a third of pupils from outside of the borough.

"We also asked the government to take our complex educational landscape into consideration when considering the next basic need allocation. This is the money given to councils each year to help us fulfil our duty to make sure there are enough school places for children.

"We remain committed to Trafford being a great place for children of all abilities and are very proud of the high standards of education all the schools in our borough provide."

A Department for Education spokesperson said: Delivering good quality school places is a top priority for this government and almost 1.2 million additional pupil places have been created since 2010, with many more in the pipeline. In 2023, over 80% families were offered their first-choice secondary school and over 90% received offers from one of their top three choices."