Sale grammar school

[Oshosh]

Hello,

Just a question. We have just been to AGBS parent evening. I have to say it quite eye opener even though it was only a presentation for 1 hour. One of the parents mentioned to me that Sale grammar school has the same admission criteria like AGBS. So it might be worthwhile trying for it as well. For me this is all quite new, anyway did the necessary and found out that it is actually true, they are quite similar.

But with the AGBS, we know for sure some places do go to out of area boys and the cut off score usually is between 353-356. But with Sale, I can't seem to find any info. Could anyone here pls point me in the right direction to research. And thoughts on this school pls. And very important question for me is logistics as well.......Fromm warrington area into sale grammar school. Are there any dedicated bus services. Kindly advise.

Thank you

[GailJ]

Hi- yes it is a real eye-opener!! we were always told that Sale tends to take a lot less children from out of Trafford but I don't know whether this is accurate and I don't know the figures. I think AGSB is around a third from out of area?

[Cupcake]

Hi Oshosh, I don't know the full statistics but the vast majority of Sale Grammar students come from in catchment. I know last year 1600 sat the entrance exam for about 180 places ( I think). The intake is considered broader than AGSB and AGGS (top 35% by ability). I remember a speech by the head teacher at the open evening saying they very much view the school as one for the local community. They prioritised providing a place for in catchment pupils rather than narrowing the ability band further and starting to take more out of catchment children with a higher pass mark (not his exact words but that was the general gist).

Their results suggest that they consistently deliver overachievement from the cohort and I've never heard a bad thing about the school. Don't know if that helps, probably not if you're out of catchment! Good luck with it all.

[Oshosh]

Thank you very much for both the replies above. It is very helpful to hear all this. I am still no where near in making my mind up about wheather we should include sale grammar in our entrance exam list.

We are out catchment for both schools and my Ds who works very hard, can't be quite nervy during stressful periods, so I am concerned wheather it would wise to put him for so many exams.

I just have to leave it for now, and see how it goes.

Thanks again for your replies.

[Emilyj]

Hi , I think it is easier to get a place at sale than AGS.
My child is now in year 7 at AGS but also passed Sale. That year Sale
couldn't fill their spaces & actually wrote to parents asking if they wanted a place at Sale if they had passed. I don't know if this was a one off but I know of a lot of children who go to sale out of area. we are also out of area so I think as long as you pass you would be in with a better chance of a place at sale.

[Emilyj]

The year before sale couldn't fill their spaces so as long as you pass you would probably have a good chance of getting a place unless things have changed and this was a one off. I know of children at sale out of area much more than it seems to be at AGS. We are out of area , my child is in year 7 at AGS but was offered Sale.

[Oshosh]

Thanks again for the reply. I have spoken to my son, and he wants to do the exam for sale as well. only because he thinks it is back up plan(bless him ) i will probably register him for the exam at sale grammar......and see how it goes. thanks alot of the info.

[bns]

it may be a better option to try for urmston grammar school, they definitely take kids from as far out as warrington.
UGS has different criteria to AGS and SGS .
1) there is no VR but an English exam instead , which often gives girls the advantage over boys IMO
2) pass mark if >355 but it is standardised against the nation cohort not the self selective own cohort of AGS standardise by.
3) the "top twenty" highest rank get automatic entry irrespective of distance, although your DC will have to score at least >400 and more realistically aprox 410 ( it was 409 this yr and 404 the yr previous(i think), but remember this score drops to about 385 once offers have been accepted/declined after 1st of march.
the stratedy I would empoly is put AGS first on the the prefered list -if you do not get in on the the basis of distance, UGS becomes your 1st prefered choice by defualt(without prejudice-UGS WILL NOT BE MADE AWARE THAT YOUR FIRST CHOICE WAS IN FACT AGS)
thats what I did anyway
hangon a minute ,your child is a boy !so distance does not come into it but for other parents with girls this may be more relevant (sorry)

[Elphaba]

Sale has a much bigger catchment area than AGSB so consequently they fill the majority of their places with in-catchment children.
The catchment for AGSB is tiny and once you are out of area it's all about your ranked score regardless of how far away from the school you live.

[bns]

Elphaba is right for out of catchment boys ABGS is effectively "super selective" and don't be fooled by a score of between 353-356 this is a very high score due to the way raw scores are standardised againt it's own cohort IMO (due the "bell shaped" distribution of the standardisation the difference between 360- and 421 is only a few raw marks because only a few children are "at" this extreme end of the steepest-negative gradient- part of the curve- best mathematically descibed by a logarithmic scale-',,,small changes at extremeties have a "butter- fly effect") translates to about the top 10% of the national cohort, in other words ,a small difference in raw scores has massive (disappropriate) difference in standardised score at this extreme ability range (however DC form local prep schools distort natural ability by over prepping and tutoring on top , hope they can cope in classes over >30!!) hope that makes sense!!
and for UGS to get into the top "20" your child needs to be within the top 5% nationally!! tough ask for any child (potentially Oxbridge/Medical School material)
I would say when your child is doing the last 4 practice papers from GL (the first 4 papers used for familiarisation), needs to be scoring >95% ave in all papers!! to get > 400 on national standardisation and >360 on the aggs/abgs exam
but don't worry most kids do not need to get any where near these almost perfect raw marks (95%+ on practice/mock GL practice papers) for entry to GS but more relevent to out of catchment children.
BTW not evidence based only my opinion , based on my own analysis/experience and I am more often than not ,wrong
btw I no "axe to grind" my DD is not going to any GS