SF School Facts UK

Selective secondary school in Sale, Trafford

Sale Grammar School

Marsland Road, Sale, Cheshire, M33 3NH

Ofsted Outstanding · 2022 Selective Sixth form Full
School website 01619733217

Ofsted

Outstandingas at 29 June 2022

Graded Outstanding at its last graded inspection, on 29 June 2022.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 4 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

76.1 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

97% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

100% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

7.3 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

81% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the top 5% of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the top 10%.

Progress 8 2023/24

0.80confidence interval 0.59 to 1.01

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as well above average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
A-
Average points per entry
45.3

England average 32.3

A level students
192

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1352
Places
1341
How full
Full — 1352 pupils against 1341 places
Girls / boys
585 / 767
Overall absence
3%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
5%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
3%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
12%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
1%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
5%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
99%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
95%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
80%
No sustained destination
0%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
188

After sixth form

Went to university
72%

England 50%

In education, work or training
90%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
4%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
193

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

65% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
86%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
172

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Trafford 015D, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
60%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
8%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
76%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
1%

England 17%

Households with no car
17%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
33%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Selective (entrance test)
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
SALE GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Headteacher
Headteacher: Rebecca Smith
Local authority
Trafford
Ward
Sale Central
Constituency
Wythenshawe and Sale East
URN
136498

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Sale High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 0.5 mi
Ashton-on-Mersey SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 52.1 1 mi
Dixons Brooklands AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 36.1 1.3 mi
Wellington SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 57.3 1.9 mi
Stretford Grammar SchoolFoundation school Good 2024 74.4 1.9 mi
Manchester Islamic Grammar School for GirlsOther independent school No grade 2.1 mi
St Antony's Roman Catholic School, a Voluntary AcademyAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2024 42.4 2.3 mi
Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic CollegeVoluntary aided school No grade 48.9 2.4 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Bexley Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 74.7
Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar SchoolFoundation school Outstanding 2023 73.4
The Judd SchoolVoluntary aided school No grade 78.4
St Bernard's Catholic Grammar SchoolVoluntary aided school Outstanding 2023 77.3
King Edward VI Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 61.3
St Olave's and St Saviour's Grammar SchoolVoluntary aided school No grade 83.6
Ermysted's Grammar SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2022 67.3
Chelmsford County High School for GirlsAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 80.7

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.