11 Plus Exams Forum

Good morning all,
We will be moving to Manchester area around Easter time next year. We will be starting house hunting properly after Christmas so I'm just researching the different areas. We have some family connections in Stockport so I am slightly more pulled towards the Cheadle/Cheadle Hulme areas. But on the other hand I can see the schools look exceptional in Trafford catchment, and I think our daughter (currently Year 4) would have a good chance of scoring highly (Sorry this sounds like gushing biased mummy- but I am also a primary school teacher and have taught in state and private sector for over ten years). My question is do children from out of the area find that they are too far down the list to get a place even if they do score highly? Especially looking at Altrincham Girls Grammar- by the time they have got to 8 miles out does anybody really get a place from that far away? Thank you for any advice or info.

It's looking like the distance for AGGS is getting tighter year by year despite catchment being 8 miles. Its down to not much more than 5 miles now, perhaps others can advise on last year's distance??

The exam changed this year so it remains to be seen whether this will have an impact on this. This year's figure will be available from the school or Trafford council once all places have been allocated next year. Offers are made on 1 March so it will be sometime after this.

The good thing about Trafford is that even if children don't make grammar school there are some excellent secondary schools here.

Sale and Timperley fall within five miles of AGGS and are cheaper to buy in than Altrincham (including Hale and Bowdon) although the closer you can get the better in terms of your chances.

Sale Grammar School catchment area is M33 (sale), WA14 and WA15 postcode areas (Altrincham), most years (apart form one year recently I think) they offer some places to out of catchment children.

Good luck!

Hi MrsL

Am sure the figures are around somewhere! I found this thread implying that the 5 miles was about the limit http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 25&t=44475" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for your quick reply, v useful- I had a sneaky feeling it couldn't possibly go 8 miles out without getting full. Yes I am also drawn to the fact the state alternatives to the grammars are high performing too.

Could anyone also advise me on the Catholic Grammars- are they as popular? Does Loreto get oversubscribed from Catholic entries alone or would that be worth a try (we are practising C of E rather than Catholic).

Thanks again.

Good morning Mrs L

I am from Stockport too, but the Heatons.

Sadly its unlikely that AGGS or SGS would admit from as far as Cheadle Hulme, though there are lots of girls my sons age ( 17) from round there at AGGS , I think the catchment was much wider around that time. My son is at AGSB but the criteria for out of area is score, hence a much better chance of gaining a place.

If you are Catholic, Loreto admit in the same way as AGSB, hence lots of girls from Stockport and further gain places. Also I think Urmston and Stretford admit the top 20 on score alone. These are fairly easily accessible from West Stockport but less so from Cheadle/Bramhall.

In respect of Loreto, I know of one person a couple of years ago who got in as CoE, but I think thats an exception.

https://cloud02.lpplus.net/website/lore ... 202015.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Loreto admisisions show the categories in the oversubscription

Thank you, all v helpful.

The distance of last year's further offer (according to info on Trafford ' s website) was 5.41 miles.

As for Loreto, it has a fantastic reputation but there is virtually no chance of a place if you are not Catholic. There are exceptions each year but you are talking literally 1 or 2.

As others have said, for AGGS the score makes absolutely no difference if you pass. Your DD could get full marks or just scrape the pass mark and it would still only depend on how close you lived to the school.

There is a section on Trafford ' s website which tells you how the schools offered places (I. E. how far they got down their categories for over-subscription) which you might find useful.

Just had a quick look at the info on Trafford ' s website (it's the last couple of pages on a booklet called Transferring to Secondary School) and Loreto offered "some" places to Category 4 (baptised Catholic girls - there is no limit on the catchment for that category so I imagine it's quite large). I think you'd be category 6 if your DD is baptised C of E.

Hope that helps

That is useful, thanks!