Spelling it out: Educational inequality in Trafford

When mum-of-two Salma Jafry moved from Bramhall to Altrincham five years ago, she did so for her children to attend their school of choice – but little did she know her son would end up in a school ten miles away.

The 45-year-old freelancer says the process is one that puts a lot of emotional stress on both children and parents.

"We came here for the schools but couldn’t get a place in and our appeals were rejected,” she tells The Altrincham and Sale Lead. "It has been very disappointing. Even the school near our house didn’t have space for my son.

"Children get under a lot of stress when they see their friends getting into a school but they don't and it’s really not easy seeing them suffer like that.”

One of the schools in Timperley refused to give her son a place as they were oversubscribed, says Jafry, adding that she believes more schools are needed in the area to cater all students. 

“Not everyone can afford private schools,” she says. "Some people were offered places in other towns. My son is going to school 10 miles away from here. People with four children get four different schools... I'm not even joking!"

Her distress is shared by a mother-of-two from Hale, who asked not to be named, who is worried about what the future will hold for her two young children. She believes it should be “local schools for local kids” and describes the fight for places as "appalling."

"I have two girls aged seven and nine and, although they are only in years four and two, I am worried about the lack of choice I will be given for them,” she says.

"Our first choice is Wellington High which, despite being within walking distance from where we live, we are out of catchment for. 

"Our closest school is Altrincham College of Arts which I have no interest in sending them to whatsoever.”

She says her other option is one of local grammar schools, of which there are seven in Trafford. 

"Considering the fact they can cherry pick who goes there and gladly take pupils from way outside the area, we don’t have much chance,” she says. "I personally think it is appalling that this is allowed to happen. This used to be a decent area for local schools for local kids but these days it just is not the case.”

Best in the North West

Altrincham Grammar School for Girls and its sister school for boys were recently named the first and second best state secondary schools in the north west by the Sunday Times. Four other Trafford grammar schools – Urmston, Sale, St Ambrose College in Hale Barns and Loreto in Altrincham – also made the top 10.

The schools’ excellent reputations and much sought-after places mean many parents from across Greater Manchester and Cheshire are desperate to ensure their children are educated in Trafford. But this inevitably means local children find themselves competing for places with children from outside the borough.

"Children are travelling from the likes of Rochdale in order to take the tests to get into Grammar School,” says Jafry, who believes “if you are not from the area you shouldn't really be getting a place that could be given to a local child.”

In Trafford, especially in the more affluent areas, demand for places is fiercely competitive. Last year 75.6 per cent 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.

One mother, 45 who asked shortly before publication not to be named, has moved no less than four times and each time made sure she was in the catchment area for Wellington High School, where she hoped her children would go.. She moved to Trafford in 2011 when her children were one and three and had an app on her phone to chart catchment areas. But by the time her children were of secondary school age, she says, the available places had got “significantly smaller”.

“The primary school my children went to used to be almost a feeder school for Wellington High but by the time my son was in year six children were having to travel to a school further away, past Wellington High, because there just weren't enough places.

She counts herself lucky that both her children, now 13 and 15, passed the exams required to attend a grammar school. 

"I have watched the catchment get smaller and smaller each year until the point where on 1 March, when you find out what  school your children have got into, there are distraught children and distraught parents. 

"It's an emotional rollercoaster sending your children to school in Trafford - you never know what you are going to get.”

Oliver Carroll – Conservative parliamentary candidate for Altrincham and Sale West says the reputation of the schools in Trafford has become a “double-edge sword”.

He agrees Altrincham has a significant problem with the amount of school places in the area and says the area has become "a victim of its own success".

"We have quite a significant problem in Altrincham with school places. Fundamentally the local authority has responsibility to provide adequate school places and educate children, by their own admission in the recent budget papers, Altrincham in particular and the WA14 postcode has insufficient school places.

"The council has been told about this for years… I have had a lot of parents getting in touch with me and saying they are being gaslighted and told there are places when there just aren't any.

"I have had probably 20 parents getting in touch with me and saying they are home educating their children and the council has done no survey to assess the number of children who are being. The people who are responsible for providing the school places don't even know the scale of the problem, so it is a pretty lamentable situation."

Carroll believes all existing schools should be supported to expand.

"There is no quick fix… We also need to acknowledge that we need more school places in the south of the borough and too many children who are being provided with school places are being sent to the north of the borough, which is completely ridiculous.”

While Carroll places full blame on the council, Michael Welton – Altrincham councillor and Trafford Green Group leader – points out many of the secondary schools in the area are academies, operating independently. The council has no control over their admissions and can’t require schools to do more to prioritise local children over those who live further away, he points out.

“We are fortunate to have so many good schools in Trafford… [but] the fundamental issue that we face locally is the lack of places at local secondary schools for local children.

“This is a particular problem at the moment because there is a demographic bulge going through the secondary school system, alongside a need for school places to accommodate families who have moved to Trafford due to international instability. As a result, some local children face no choice but to travel to schools that are far from their homes."

What makes the situation more challenging to resolve is the fact that secondary schools in the area are almost all academies, and so are independent of council control. 

There are some positive developments. North Cestrian school is currently making moves to purchase the neighbouring site of the former Loreto Prep School. This could provide 400 additional local school places. There are also plans to create 400 additional places at Altrincham College.

Between 2020-21 Stretford grammar and both Altrincham boys’ and girls’ grammar schools increased their class sizes by a total of 460 pupils. Plans are also underway to increase Altrincham College by an extra 300 places from September 2025, and the council is considering the possibility of expanding Broadoak school in Partington.

Headteacher for Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Graeme Wright, says only 15% of applicants from outside the area have been admitted in the last six years.

“We consider Altrincham Grammar School for Boys to be a community grammar school,” he says. “With this in mind, we increased our catchment area by adding Trafford postcodes of M23 to our existing catchment area (WA13/14/15/ and M33) in 2018.”

He adds that reports claiming that Trafford's grammar schools admit almost a third of their pupils from outside the borough are not true of his school.

"This is certainly not the case at AGSB. The average percentage of out of area applicants entering the school over the past six years is 15”.

Vital new school places are found

A spokesperson for the Department of Education says the statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own forecast data. 

However, Cllr Karina Carter, Trafford Council’s Executive Member for Children and Young People accepts the demand for school places in the Altrincham and Sale planning area can no longer be met within the current offer, and she says it is vital new ways are found to increase the number of places.

“It’s understandable that there is such demand for school places thanks to the world-class education our schools provide for pupils… [but] we understand how disappointing it can be for both parents and for children if they don’t get into their school of choice.”

She points to Trafford Council guidance to parents which outlines where they are most likely to be successful when applying for a place. Any parent who has been refused a place at a mainstream school they have applied for, also has the right of appeal to an independent appeal panel.

Despite an increase in demand, Carter says, this year 79% of pupils offered their first placement and 95% offered one of their top three preferences.

“It is clear that the demand for school places in the Altrincham and Sale planning area can no longer be met within the current offer, and it is vital that we now find ways to increase the number of places,” she says, however. Last year the council wrote to the Secretary of State for Education regarding the shortfall of places. 

“We explained the current situation where currently we have 19 secondary schools, seven of those being selective and we are the admission authority for only one of those schools.

“We asked the government to work with our grammar schools to review their admissions criteria so that Trafford residents are given priority over those living outside of the borough,” she says, reiterating the claim that local grammar schools admit almost a third of pupils from outside of the borough. 

“We also asked the government to take our complex educational landscape into consideration when considering the next basic need allocation. This is the money given to councils each year to help us fulfill our duty to make sure there are enough school places for children.

“We remain committed to Trafford being a great place for children of all abilities and are very proud of the high standards of education all the schools in our borough provide.”

Sign up to The Altrincham & Sale Lead for free for more of our news, features, recommendations and investigations.

You can see the previous newsletter we sent to our subscribers.