For families with school-age children, the availability of good schools is always a top consideration when choosing where to live. That’s why we’ve drawn together a list of the best schools in Manchester itself and the Greater Manchester area. This will give you a great idea of where to find the educational clusters of excellence if you’re planning to move here.
Manchester’s best schools are nationally competitive. This is due to a combination of its grammar school history, rising investment and high demand attracting outstanding teachers. The ongoing property development boom affecting Manchester and many of its surrounding towns means that the area is becoming a hotspot for young families moving here.
The following list of the 10 best schools in Manchester comes from the Britannia Studylink Rankings & League Table for 2022. This ranks the top secondary UK state schools in the UK. Look out for a future guide to the top private schools in Manchester, coming soon.
10 Best schools in Manchester – Secondary State Level
1: Altrincham Grammar School for Girls
Ranked 8th nationally
As you’ll come to see from this list, the market town of Altrincham in Trafford, Greater Manchester, is a genuine heavyweight when it comes to state education. The town has no fewer than four schools in the top 10. Impressive enough, but all of them are also ranked within the top 100 schools nationally.
Altrincham Grammar School for Girls (AGGS) was founded in 1910. It has a long, proud tradition of success in cultivating academic and sporting excellence in its students. It also highly values the development of cultural awareness and community service in its students.
Ranked 8th nationally, AGGS is one of the highest performing schools in the country. It is consistently rated outstanding in every area by Ofsted. While it is a non-fee-paying school, it is fully selective, with admissions gained via a successful application.
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2: Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
Ranked 28th nationally
Fortunately, both boys and girls have access to outstanding education options in Altringham! Altrincham Grammar School for Boys (AGSB) is also a wholly selective academy grammar school, admitting boys aged between 11 and 18. With its rich, broad-ranging academic curriculum, AGSB says it aims to instil a lifelong love of learning in its students. It also wants to provide them with the necessary skills and knowledge base to succeed in any area they pursue.
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3: Loreto Grammar School – Altrincham
Ranked 55th nationally
Loreto is an all-girls Catholic grammar school that currently educates over 1000 students. Founded in 1909, Loreto has consistently kept up with the times during its 100+ year history. Its students are challenged to reach their fullest potential in every academic, sporting and artistic sphere. There’s also a strong emphasis on moral education here, where every student is encouraged to embrace honesty, justice and mutual respect while becoming questioning, independent learners and “seekers of truth”.
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4: Sale Grammar School – Sale
Ranked 92nd nationally
The first of our list not in Altrincham, Sale Grammar School is located in the small town of Sale, just 5 miles southwest of Manchester. It’s also the first co-educational school on the list, catering to students aged 11-18. Its current headteacher describes it as a “happy and vibrant school offering an enriching education that encourages and challenges our students.”
Sale Grammar School performs exceptionally well across the board. It also has specialist status in the Visual Arts and in Science with Maths.
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5: St Ambrose College – Altrincham
Ranked 100th nationally
And we’re back to Altrincham for the fourth time! St Ambrose College is a selective, Catholic State-Funded grammar school for boys. It’s one of eleven schools in the Edmund Rice Schools Network. The movement fosters compassion and care for others in youths UK-wide. Nurturing spiritual faith is a fundamental part of the school’s ethos and mission statement, while providing a fully-rounded education for its students.
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6: The King David High School – Manchester
Ranked 107th nationally
King David High School is located in the Manchester suburb of Crumpsall and is the top-performing non-selective school in the North of England. It’s a Jewish faith school that prides itself on giving its students the knowledge of, and pride in, their heritage and identity.
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7: Urmston Grammar School – Manchester
Ranked 122nd nationally
Located in Urmston, just 5 miles from Manchester’s city centre, Urmston Grammar School lives by the motto “Manners Maketh Man”. These are the words of William of Wykeham, who was born poor in 1324 but received a grammar school education and went on to become Chancellor of England. The full meaning of the quote is that it is not by birth, money, or property that an individual is defined, but by how they behave towards others.
Since 1882, Urmston has been committed to bringing out the best in all its students. In 2021, the school achieved A-level results of 75.6% A*-B, and 46.7% at A*/A. It has specialist status in both science and languages.
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8: Cheadle Hulme High School – Stockport
Ranked 146th nationally
Cheadle Hulme High School is located within the large town of Stockport, around 7 miles southeast of Manchester. Describing itself as “unashamedly academic”, Cheadle Hulme focuses on developing the ‘KASH’ – Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills and Habits that pupils need to succeed in their studies and in later life.
It’s the current top comprehensive non-denominational non-selective state secondary in the North West. It consistently receives outstanding Ofsted reports and of its class of 2021 Sixth Form leavers, 72% went to Russell Group universities.
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9: The Blue Coat School – Oldham
Ranked 247th nationally
The Blue Coat School is a coeducation Church of England academy founded in the town of Oldham, Greater Manchester. First opened in 1834 by founder Thomas Henshaw, it has grown to become a leading Anglican faith school, one that consistently delivers outstanding Ofsted reports and exam results. Visitors and students alike love the school grounds, which are a visual treat. The old and new buildings blend into a welcoming and exciting campus where students are galvanised to learn.
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10: William Hulme’s Grammar School – Manchester
Ranked 382nd nationally
Located on Spring Bridge Road, in the southern end of Manchester itself, William Hulme’s Grammar School is one of the most popular and high-performing secondary schools in the UK. The school offers a complete 3-18 education experience in a multicultural learning environment. Students gain a deeper understanding of the wider world through enterprise activities and international school links.
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Grammar Schools in Manchester
You may have noticed that the majority (7 out of 10) of these top-performing schools in Manchester are grammar schools. This is unsurprising, as grammar schools consistently outperform most of the UK’s non-selective state schools. Not only are grammar schools in Manchester highly regarded in UK education circles, they are also among the best-resourced schools in the region. Alongside state funding, grammar schools often receive generous donations from alumni who have gone on to be successful in their field.
Overall, Greater Manchester is one of the strongest grammar school areas in the UK. It offers any family with school-aged children access to an outstanding range of selective schools, rich in history and learning opportunities.
Manchester’s outstanding schools
As our list shows, Manchester is extremely well off for excellent secondary schools. This is particularly the case if you’re willing to live a few miles outside of the city proper. Hopefully, this will provide some food for thought if you’re looking to make a move to Manchester or the Greater Manchester area.
Remember that while these are the 10 best schools in Manchester, there are dozens more high-quality educational institutions to choose from. Look out for further lists in the near future, as we explore the best private schools in Manchester.
If you want to find out more about living in Manchester, click our dedicated area guide below. Here you’ll find all our listed property developments as well as extra detail on the different parts of the city.
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