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State secondary schools in Salford

16 schools · North West · 2024/25 Department for Education figures

Salford has 16 state secondaries, 2 of them with sixth forms. 85.9% of families got their first choice last year, about the national picture. Results run from 16.7% to 55.7% passing English and maths, a spread of 39 points, with a middle school at 44.2%, almost exactly England's 45.4%.

Of those Ofsted has graded, 10 Good, 1 Requires improvement. 5 schools carry no overall grade at all — either inspected since Ofsted stopped issuing one in September 2024, or never inspected.

16 schools in Salford. Tap one, or see the full list.
17% 56% passed English & maths no figure

Salford against England

State-funded schools, 2024/25

40%

Passed English & maths grade 5 or above

5.2% below England

England 45%

42.9

Attainment 8 average score

3.2 below England

England 46.1

24%

Persistently absent missed 10% of sessions

2.9% above England

England 21%

Getting a place

2026/27 secondary admissions round, across Salford

85.9%

Got their first choiceof those who applied

England 84%

95.9%

Got one of their threefirst, second or third

<0.1%

Got no offer at allfrom any preference

14%

Appeals upheld11 of 81 heard

These are figures for Salford as a whole. A popular school can be much harder to get into than the average suggests, and the criteria that decide it are set by each school's own admission authority rather than centrally. How applying works

How much the choice matters here

Across Salford's 15 schools, the share passing English and maths runs from 17% to 56%. That is a spread of 39 percentage points, about typical.

The typical council spans about 48 points. Where schools are close together the school a child gets matters less; where they are far apart it matters a great deal. The widest spreads are all selective areas, where grammar schools sit at one end and everything else at the other.

Salford schools, subject by subject

The share reaching grade 4 or above, among schools entering at least 20 pupils. Which pupils take a subject differs a lot between schools, so read this as what happened rather than as a ranking of teaching.

mathsenglish literatureenglish languagecombined sciencehistorygeographyartspanishphysicschemistrybiologycomputer sciencereligious studiesphotographyfrenchdesign technologybusiness studies
  1. 1 St Patrick's RC High School Manchester · 146 entries 73%
  2. 2 Beis Yaakov High School Salford · 44 entries 73%
  3. 3 All Hallows RC High School Salford · 108 entries 69%
  4. 4 Ellesmere Park High School Manchester · 112 entries 57%
  5. 5 Buile Hill Academy Salford · 132 entries 57%
  6. 6 St Ambrose Barlow RC High School Manchester · 164 entries 55%
  7. 7 Co-op Academy Swinton Manchester · 179 entries 54%
  8. 8 The Lowry Academy Manchester · 141 entries 52%
  9. 9 Salford City Academy Manchester · 142 entries 51%
  10. 10 Irlam and Cadishead Academy Manchester · 87 entries 51%
  11. 11 The Albion Academy Salford · 128 entries 48%
  12. 12 AldridgeUTC@MediaCityUK Salford · 87 entries 47%
  13. 13 Co-op Academy Walkden Manchester · 221 entries 46%
  14. 14 Moorside High School Manchester · 166 entries 41%
  15. 15 Oasis Academy MediaCityUK Manchester · 152 entries 30%
combined science tutors

Parent guides

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Every school in Salford

Schools in neighbouring authorities are not in this list, because admissions run per authority. See bordering areas.

4 of 16 have no spare places. Sort the list, or narrow it first.

  • AldridgeUTC@MediaCityUK Salford · Good.
    Eng & maths
    17%
    Attainment 8
    35.6
    Absence
    34%
  • All Hallows RC High School Salford · Good. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    55%
    Attainment 8
    49.3
    Absence
    17%
  • Beis Yaakov High School Salford · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    46%
    Attainment 8
    49.3
    Absence
    18%
  • Buile Hill Academy Salford · Requires improvement.
    Eng & maths
    51%
    Attainment 8
    42.9
    Absence
    39%
  • Co-op Academy Swinton Manchester · Good.
    Eng & maths
    31%
    Attainment 8
    44.6
    Absence
    28%
  • Co-op Academy Walkden Manchester · Good.
    Eng & maths
    41%
    Attainment 8
    43.6
    Absence
    24%
  • Ellesmere Park High School Manchester · Good. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    43%
    Attainment 8
    45.8
    Absence
    21%
  • Irlam and Cadishead Academy Manchester · Good.
    Eng & maths
    47%
    Attainment 8
    43.6
    Absence
    23%
  • Moorside High School Manchester · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    46%
    Attainment 8
    41.8
    Absence
    22%
  • Oasis Academy MediaCityUK Manchester · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    27%
    Attainment 8
    38.7
    Absence
    24%
  • Salford City Academy Manchester · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    42%
    Attainment 8
    46.1
    Absence
    24%
  • St Ambrose Barlow RC High School Manchester · Good.
    Eng & maths
    38%
    Attainment 8
    44.2
    Absence
    17%
  • St Patrick's RC High School Manchester · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    56%
    Attainment 8
    53.8
    Absence
    14%
  • Star Salford Academy Worsley · No inspection outcome published.
    Eng & maths
    —
    Attainment 8
    —
    Absence
    27%
  • The Albion Academy Salford · Good.
    Eng & maths
    49%
    Attainment 8
    47.4
    Absence
    27%
  • The Lowry Academy Manchester · Good.
    Eng & maths
    44%
    Attainment 8
    44.7
    Absence
    26%

Pick up to 4 schools to see them side by side in the comparison tool, subject by subject.

Sixth form · Key stage 5·2024/25

A levels in Salford

1 of Salford's 2 sixth forms publish A level results. Ranked on the share reaching AAB or better in at least two of the subjects universities name, which is the measure the steepest entry requirements are written in.

Sixth form Grade AAB+

A level results only. A sixth form running mostly BTECs and other applied courses will show a dash here and can still be the right one — those are graded on their own scale, where a distinction and an A grade carry the same points and mean different things.

Bordering Salford

Near a boundary, schools on both sides are usually in reach. Whether a child can apply is set by each school's admission criteria, not by the border.

Bolton 20 schools · 44% passed English & mathsBury 14 schools · 39% passed English & mathsManchester 32 schools · 41% passed English & mathsTrafford 19 schools · 64% passed English & mathsWarrington 13 schools · 48% passed English & mathsWigan 19 schools · 39% passed English & maths

What these mean

Attainment 8
The average pupil's total score across eight GCSE-equivalent subjects, with English and maths counting double. It is scored out of 90. A score of 50 is roughly equivalent to achieving a grade 5 across eight subjects.
Grades 4 and 5
GCSEs are graded from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass and broadly corresponds to the old grade C; grade 5 is what the government calls a strong pass. Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an old grade A.
Persistent absence
The share of pupils who miss at least 10% of their possible sessions during the school year. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absence, so illness and other authorised reasons are included. Persistent absence has remained substantially higher than its pre-pandemic level.
First preference
The share of families who were offered the school they ranked first on their application, on national offer day in March. This figure is calculated across the relevant schools or admissions authority, so a high overall figure does not necessarily mean that every individual school is easy to get into.
Spare places
The amount of available capacity a school has compared with the number of pupils on roll. This is different from oversubscription: spare places measure whether a school has capacity, whereas oversubscription describes demand for places exceeding the number available. A school with no spare places may be popular, but a small school can also be full without receiving a large number of applications.
Average A-level grade
The average grade achieved across students' A-level entries. This is different from measures such as the proportion achieving AAB or better in two or more facilitating subjects, which are sometimes used to indicate higher attainment and university-entry performance.
Covers state-funded schools in England; independent schools are not included, and neither the list nor the subject figures above take account of them.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Key stage 4 performance and school characteristics: Department for Education, 2024/25. Inspection outcomes: Ofsted.