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There are 465 secondary schools in the North West. Of those, 12 are all-through schools, teaching both primary and secondary years. They are spread across 24 council areas.
Apply by 31 October in your child's Year 6, for a place starting the following September. You apply to the council where you live, even if the school is in another council's area, and can usually list between 3 and 6 schools in order of preference. Offers are sent on 1 March, or the next working day.
Yes, 19 secondary schools in the North West select pupils by ability, in Trafford (7), Wirral (6), Lancashire (4), Liverpool (1) and Westmorland and Furness (1). Entry is by the 11-plus, usually sat in September of Year 6. You register for the test separately, normally in the summer term of Year 5, and still name the school on your council application by 31 October.
Of the 465 secondary schools in the North West, 179 have a sixth form. Students at a school that stops at 16 apply separately for sixth form, either at another school or at a college.
Of the 465 secondary schools in the North West, 143 have a religious character: 85 Roman Catholic, 33 Church of England, 8 Muslim, 7 Christian, 4 Jewish, 3 Church of England/Roman Catholic, 2 Roman Catholic/Church of England and 1 Anglican/Church of England. When a faith school has more applicants than places, it can give priority to children of its faith. Many ask for a supplementary form, sometimes signed by a religious leader, so read the school's admissions policy before you apply.
Yes, the North West has 28 girls' schools and 22 boys' schools. The other 414 are mixed. Some single-sex schools take both boys and girls into the sixth form.
On our star rating, the highest rated are Altrincham Grammar School for Girls (5.0), Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School (5.0), Clitheroe Royal Grammar School (5.0), Loreto Grammar School (5.0) and Sale Grammar School (5.0). The rating is our own, out of 5. It combines Parent View survey results, the latest Ofsted inspection and GCSE results, with the parent survey carrying the most weight. Of the 465 schools here, 446 have enough published data for a rating.
Only when you qualify for more than one school. Each school ranks applicants against its own admission criteria without knowing where you placed it. If you qualify for several, the council offers the one you ranked highest, so putting a popular school first does not lower your chances at your second choice.
No. Distance only matters when a school has more applicants than places, and then it offers places in the order its admission criteria set out. Children in care or adopted from care come first by law. Most schools put brothers and sisters of current pupils next, then distance or catchment area. Faith schools and grammar schools use different criteria. How far away the last place went changes every year, depending on who applies.
The council offers a place at another school with room, which may be further from home. You can accept it and still join the waiting lists for the schools you preferred. Waiting lists are ranked by the admission criteria, not by how long a child has been on them. You can also appeal to an independent panel for any school that refused you.