Families in fight for places at top of the class high schools

PARENTS SLAM 'LACK OF CHOICE' IN BOROUGH

- DAMON WILKINSON

WHEN Richard Midgley’s daughter was moving up to secondary school in 2022 she applied to five places, but didn’t get in any.

The family, from Bowdon, later discovered they were just four metres outside the catchment zone for their first choice, North Cestrian in Altrincham.

“We were in a kind of educational no man’s land,” says Richard. They’re not alone. On Friday hundreds of thousands of kids across the country discovered where they’d be going to high school. It can be an extremely stressful time for both parents and children.

And in Trafford, especially in the more affluent towns and villages in the south of the borough, demand for places is particularly fierce. Last year 75.6% got a place at their first choice school, compared to a national average of 82.6%. For children starting high school this September the figure rose to 79% in Trafford.

Competition is so tough the council has taken to publishing what amounts to a disclaimer on the application forms. “All secondary schools in the Altrincham and Sale areas are significantly oversubscribed,” it reads.

“It is frequently the case that some catchment area children do not achieve places in their preferred schools.”

‘You have to live in the playground to get a place’

Last year 92 children from Sale and Altrincham didn’t get a place at any of their preferred schools. They were all allocated places in either Partington, Lostock or Flixton, but depending on their home address those schools can be more than an hour’s journey away on public transport. Others chose to leave the county altogether and go to school in Cheshire, in towns such as Lymm and Knutsford.