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Loreto Grammar School vs Saint Ambrose College

Both are grammar schools in Trafford, 2.0 miles apart. Side-by-side on official DfE, Ofsted and council admissions data.

Side by side

Loreto Grammar School Saint Ambrose College
Phase Secondary Secondary
Gender Girls Boys
Pupils on roll 1,075 1,096
Free school meals 5.5% 6.4%
Ofsted rating Outstanding Not published
Attainment 8 — 2025/26 75.2 72.3
11+ test board School's own entrance examination (Maths; English and Verbal Reasoning by GL) School's own entrance examination (Verbal Reasoning, Maths, English)
Admission system pass/fail then criteria order (score doesn't give priority after passing) pass/fail then criteria order (score doesn't give priority after passing)
Places offered — 202627 160 149
First preferences per place — higher means more competition for a first-preference place 1.61 1.5

Qualifying scores

Loreto Grammar School

Not published as a fixed pass mark. Loreto Grammar School runs its own 'Governors' Entrance Exam' (3 papers); girls meeting the school's standard are then prioritised by the Catholic faith-based oversubscription criteria, with distance only as a tiebreaker.

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 (School's own entrance examination (Maths; English and Verbal Reasoning by GL) 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.

Loreto Grammar School

  1. Baptised Roman Catholic looked after and previously looked after girls
  2. Baptised Roman Catholic girls with a sister at the school
  3. Baptised Roman Catholic girls at an associated primary school living in a nominated Local Pastoral Area
  4. Other baptised Roman Catholic girls
  5. Other looked after and previously looked after girls
  6. Baptised girls of other denominations

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

Loreto Grammar School 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: Loreto Grammar School · Saint Ambrose College
Or see all secondary schools in Trafford ranked.

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