Schools in Trafford

Primary schools: Explicit: 'All Trafford Community/Voluntary Controlled Infant and Primary Schools have a catchment area.' Some schools share a catchment with an adjacent school. (source)

Most schools use the local authority's default scheme rather than a school-specific catchment map — see each school's page for its own designated/catchment area where one is published.

Trafford has THREE different entrance tests depending on the school: 1. Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium (Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, Sale Grammar School, Stretford Grammar School, Urmston Grammar) — two multiple-choice papers of around an hour each with a short break between, covering verbal ability (vocabulary, word relationships, verbal reasoning comprehension), non-verbal ability (shape relationships, sequences, codes, spatial awareness) and maths (topics up to the start of Year 6). GL Assessment produces a bespoke paper for the consortium, so practice papers for other areas won't be identical. One sitting covers all five schools. 2. Loreto Grammar School (girls, Catholic) — its own 'Governors' Entrance Exam' of three papers: maths (45 minutes, set in-house, Year 5 curriculum), English (45 minutes, GL Assessment multiple-choice: comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, punctuation) and verbal reasoning (50 minutes, GL Assessment). 3. St Ambrose College (boys, Catholic) — its own test: verbal reasoning (50 minutes, GL Assessment), plus English and maths papers (35 minutes each; maths set in-house on the Year 5 curriculum). All multiple-choice, no creative writing. Papers are age-standardised. The consortium test and the two Catholic schools' tests are sat on different dates, so a child can attempt all three routes in the same September if registered separately for each.

Any child in Year 6 can sit the Trafford entrance tests regardless of where they live — families from Manchester, Stockport, Cheshire and beyond routinely apply to Trafford grammar schools. Trafford has TWO separate testing routes: 1. The Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium — Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, Sale Grammar School, Stretford Grammar School and Urmston Grammar share a single bespoke GL Assessment test. One sitting can be considered by all five schools if you select that option when registering. Registration is online (historically opening late April and closing mid-June, with the test in mid-September of Year 6). 2. Loreto Grammar School and St Ambrose College (both Catholic) are NOT in the consortium — each runs its own separate entrance exam on a different date, so applying to these means sitting additional tests. Register with each school directly. Applying for a place: submit your home LA's Common Application Form by 31 October, listing the Trafford school(s) — if you live outside Trafford, your own LA's deadline applies. Criteria impact: check each school's oversubscription criteria. The two Catholic schools prioritise baptised Roman Catholic children (with pastoral-area and sibling categories) ahead of other applicants; the consortium schools' criteria vary by school and several use distance or catchment factors that can affect out-of-borough families.