England · Grammar school
Sale Grammar School
Sale · Mixed (co-educational) · ages 11 to 18
Official record: Get Information About Schools (URN 136498)
Overview
- Address
- Marsland Road, Sale, Cheshire, M33 3NH
- Status
- Open
- Admits
- Mixed (co-educational)
- Age range
- 11 to 18
- Number of pupils
- 1,352
- Capacity
- 1,341
- Eligible for free school meals
- 2.9%
- Sixth form
- Yes
- School type
- Academy converter
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- Not yet available
- Local authority
- Trafford
Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026 · Source: Desk research (cited public sources) (parentview.ofsted.gov.uk), last checked 31 October 2026
Admissions and the 11+
- Admissions policy
- Selective (grammar school)
- Selection in this area
- Fully selective area36% of Year 7 places offered in Trafford for September 2026 were at selective schools (DfE applications and offers). We class an area as fully selective at 25% or more. Confirm with the local authority's admissions guide.
- Entrance test
- Trafford Consortium test
- Qualifying score
- standardised score 334 or above (2026 entry)
- Catchment area
- Postal addresses of M33, WA14, WA15, plus Trafford residents within M23Postcode areas: M33, WA14, WA15, M23
- Children from outside the catchment
- Yes: Out-of-area candidates are offered places by score threshold (364 in 2024, 353 in 2025, 373 in 2026). Trafford says the school is not oversubscribed by catchment children.
Past offers: lowest score and furthest distance
| Intake | Applicant group | Lowest score offered | Last distance offered | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 2026 | outside catchment'Score 373 and above for out of area candidates to 5.907 miles' | 373 | 9.51 km (5.91 miles) | trafford.gov.uk |
| Sept 2025 | outside catchment'Score of 353 and above for out of area candidates' | 353 | – | trafford.gov.uk |
| Sept 2024 | outside catchment'Score 364 and above for out of area candidates'; some Category 4 | 364 | – | trafford.gov.uk |
From published allocation data found in desk research (checked 1 November 2026); not yet confirmed with the school. Scores from different tests or years are not comparable, and a past cut-off does not guarantee a future place.
Applications and offers for Year 7
For September 2026 entry, 1,096 applicants named this school (265 as their first choice) for 197 places. 21 of 197 offers went to children living outside Trafford.
| Intake | Places offered | Applicants | First choice | First choices per place | Offers to children outside Trafford |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 2026 | 197 | 1,096 | 265 | 1.3 | 21 |
| Sept 2025 | 193 | 1,087 | 213 | 1.1 | 58 |
| Sept 2024 | 191 | 1,099 | 250 | 1.3 | 24 |
| Sept 2023 | 192 | 1,061 | 251 | 1.3 | 11 |
| Sept 2022 | 189 | 1,048 | 256 | 1.4 | 8 |
Show all 13 years
| Intake | Places offered | Applicants | First choice | First choices per place | Offers to children outside Trafford |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 2021 | 192 | 1,953 | 463 | 2.4 | 8 |
| Sept 2020 | 199 | 1,153 | 282 | 1.4 | 47 |
| Sept 2019 | 198 | 1,160 | 310 | 1.6 | 4 |
| Sept 2018 | 198 | 1,205 | 305 | 1.5 | 32 |
| Sept 2017 | 192 | 976 | 210 | 1.1 | 56 |
| Sept 2016 | 189 | 1,019 | 264 | 1.4 | 31 |
| Sept 2015 | 194 | 1,069 | 300 | 1.5 | 39 |
| Sept 2014 | 183 | 1,137 | 326 | 1.8 | 1 |
"Applicants" counts every family that listed the school as any preference, so it is higher than the number competing for each place. "Outside Trafford" means a home in another local authority; it is not the school's catchment area. For grammar schools, offers also depend on the entrance test result.
Source: Secondary and primary school applications and offers (Department for Education), last checked 31 October 2026
Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026 · Source: Admissions research (cited public sources) (leadingtuition.co.uk, trafford.gov.uk), last checked 1 November 2026
Key dates for September 2027 entry
- Test registration (Trafford grammar schools)
- 23 April 2026 to 19 June 2026
- Test date
- 14 September 2026Consortium (Altrincham Boys/Girls, Sale, Stretford, Urmston) use one GL test on 14 Sep. Results mid-October by email (no exact date). Loreto Grammar runs own process: registration 27 Jun-31 Jul 2026, test 18 Sep. Late applications only in exceptional circumstances. Sources are tuition guides.
- Results sent to families
- Not yet available
- Apply to your council (September 2027 entry)
- By 31 October 2026This date has passed: late applications go to your council and are usually considered after on-time ones.
- National offer day
- 1 March 2027Offers are sent on 1 March, or the next working day.
- Open days
- Not yet available
- School opened (current registration)
- 1 March 2011
Unverified: test dates come from desk research (medium confidence). Confirm them with the council or test organiser. Sources: leadingtuition.co.uk, atomlearning.com.
Statutory dates: School Admissions Code (Department for Education).
Guide to the Trafford grammar schools and its schools · How applying works
Source: Test dates research (cited public sources) (leadingtuition.co.uk), last checked 1 November 2026 · Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026
Ofsted inspection
Inspected on 29 June 2022: overall Outstanding. Read the report ↗
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form provision
- Outstanding
Inspection history (3)
Source: Ofsted inspection reports, last checked 31 October 2026
Exam results
GCSE results 2025/26 (provisional)
| Measure | This school | Selective schools in England | All state schools in England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8Average grade across 8 GCSE-level subjects, doubled for English and maths (maximum 90). | 75.5 | 72.1 | 46.2 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 99.5% | 93.7% | 46.3% |
| Grade 7 or above in English and maths | 67.2% | 57.7% | 14.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 100% | 98.3% | 64.8% |
| Progress 8Not published for most schools in recent years, because primary school tests were cancelled in 2020 and 2021. | – | – | – |
Attainment 8 over time: 75.5 (2023/24) → 76.1 (2024/25) → 75.5 (2025/26).
192 pupils took GCSEs. Results reflect a selective intake: compare grammar schools with each other rather than with all schools.
Source: Key stage 4 performance (GCSE results) (Department for Education), last checked 31 October 2026
How to get there
- Postcode
- M33 3NH
- Map location
- 53.41811, -2.31503
- Open in OpenStreetMap
- Directions and surroundings ↗
- Telephone
- 01619733217
Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026
Official links and documents
- School website
- www.salegrammar.co.uk
- Official register record
- Get Information About Schools (URN 136498) ↗
- Admissions policy document
- Not yet available
- Further reading
- Wikipedia ↗
Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026