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Altrincham Grammar School for Girls vs Saint Ambrose College

Both are grammar schools in Trafford, 1.8 miles apart. Side-by-side on official DfE, Ofsted and council admissions data.

Side by side

Altrincham Grammar School for Girls Saint Ambrose College
Phase Secondary Secondary
Gender Girls Boys
Pupils on roll 1,381 1,096
Free school meals 7.4% 6.4%
Ofsted rating Outstanding Not published
Attainment 8 — 2025/26 77.8 72.3
11+ test board GL Assessment School's own entrance examination (Verbal Reasoning, Maths, English)
Admission system pass/fail + catchment (passing the test is a gate; living in the catchment area determines priority over score) pass/fail then criteria order (score doesn't give priority after passing)
Places offered — 202627 209 149
First preferences per place — higher means more competition for a first-preference place 1.34 1.5

Qualifying scores

Altrincham Grammar School for Girls

334 (2026 entry)

Trafford Consortium qualifying score: 334 or above (standardised, across the two consortium papers). Reaching 334 is eligibility, not an offer — each school's oversubscription criteria then apply.

Council source ↗

Saint Ambrose College

No fixed pass mark. St Ambrose College offers its ~140 Year 7 places in rank order of total score on its own 3-paper entrance test, with Catholic faith-based oversubscription categories applied.

Council source ↗

These schools use different tests (GL Assessment and School's own entrance examination (Verbal Reasoning, Maths, English)), so their pass marks are set on different scales and cannot be compared as numbers.

Who gets priority

Where a school is oversubscribed, these are the first criteria applied, in order. This is usually what decides an application.

Altrincham Grammar School for Girls

  1. Looked after and previously looked after children, wherever they live
  2. Girls in the catchment area (8-mile radius) receiving the Pupil Premium
  3. Girls in the catchment area with a sister at the school
  4. Other girls in the catchment area — nearest first
  5. Girls outside the catchment area receiving the Pupil Premium — nearest first
  6. Girls outside the catchment area with a sister at the school — nearest first

Source: school admissions policy.

Saint Ambrose College

  1. Baptised Catholic boys who are looked after or previously looked after
  2. Baptised Catholic boys with a brother at the school
  3. Baptised Catholic boys living in a nominated Local Pastoral Area (all WA14, WA15, M31 and M33 postcodes, and the listed parishes)
  4. Other baptised Catholic boys
  5. Other looked after or previously looked after boys
  6. Catechumens and members of an Eastern Christian Church

Source: school admissions policy.

Choosing between them

Altrincham Grammar School for Girls is a girls school and Saint Ambrose College is a boys school, so for many families the starting point is which one can admit their child. The figures on this page are the published ones — they describe intakes and results, not what either school would be like for your child. The right choice depends on your family's own priorities and circumstances.

Full detail for each school: Altrincham Grammar School for Girls · Saint Ambrose College
Or see all secondary schools in Trafford ranked.

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