Altrincham, Greater Manchester · Trafford
Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
Shares its published qualifying score exactly with Trafford's reputedly least-selective grammar — but council data shows its real cutoff for out-of-area applicants runs well above that shared floor.
AGSB has taught boys in Bowdon since 1912 and sits in the five-school Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium, which shares a single GL Assessment entrance test. Its published qualifying score for September 2027 entry is numerically identical to Urmston Grammar's, the consortium school reputed to be the least selective of the five — but that shared number turns out to be a floor set by the test's standardisation, not a measure of real selectivity. Trafford Council's own published 2026 admissions-outcomes data shows AGSB's realized cutoff for applicants outside its priority area reached 373 that year, well above the 334 floor, while Urmston's distance-based allocation extended to a comparatively generous 6 miles. AGSB's reputation as the more competitive of the two holds up once you look past the published score to what actually got applicants in.
Key facts
- Gender
- boys
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- North West
- Local authority
- Trafford
- Established
- 1912
- DfE URN
- 136458
- Website
- https://www.agsb.co.uk/
Admissions
- Admissions authority
- The school sets its own test and criteria
- Entrance test board
- GL Assessment, on behalf of the Trafford Grammar Schools Consortium (AGSB, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, Sale Grammar, Stretford Grammar, Urmston Grammar). A new provider, Future Stories Community Enterprise, is due to take over with a new KS2-curriculum-based test from September 2028 entry — this doesn't affect the current live cycle.
- Test format
- Two papers of about an hour each, assessing verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics to Year 6 standard, age-standardised. For September 2027 entry: test sat Monday 14 September 2026; results issued by end of October 2026.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- A total standardised score of at least 334 qualifies in the general and priority-area categories. A lower threshold of 324 applies to looked-after children (uncapped), and to two small Pupil Premium categories (up to 20 places for Pupil Premium applicants living in the priority area at a Trafford state primary, scoring 324-333; up to 10 places for Pupil Premium applicants at a Trafford state primary generally, scoring 324+). Reaching the threshold only qualifies a candidate for consideration — oversubscribed categories are then allocated by rank score within that category.
- Superselective?
- Nopartly verified
The realized-cutoff comparison (373 vs Urmston's ~6-mile radius) is sourced directly to Trafford Council's own published admissions-outcomes data, but no school publishes an actual lowest-admitted score, so a fully precise year-on-year comparison across all five consortium schools isn't possible.
AGSB's published qualifying score (334 general / 324 Pupil Premium) is identical to Urmston Grammar's — Urmston being reputed the least selective of the five Trafford consortium schools — confirmed directly from each school's own determined admissions policy. Taken alone that would argue against a materially higher bar. But Trafford Council's own published 2026 admissions-outcomes data shows AGSB's realized cutoff for out-of-priority-area applicants reached 373 that year, well above the shared 334 floor, while Urmston's distance-based allocation reached only about 6 miles — a real, sourced difference in practice that the published score alone doesn't capture. AGSB's priority-admission-area structure creates competition for its remaining places that Urmston's simpler distance-only allocation doesn't, which is a more precise explanation than 'more applications for the same bar.'
Catchment & priority criteria
A Priority Admission Area covers WA13, WA14, WA15, M33 and M23 postcodes within Trafford. All 202 places are allocated through five ranked categories combining care status, Pupil Premium eligibility, and residence in the priority area, each gated by the relevant score threshold above; oversubscription within a category is resolved by straight-line distance to the school, then random allocation if exactly tied.
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children scoring 324+
- Up to 20 places: Pupil Premium-eligible applicants in the priority area, at a Trafford state primary, scoring 324-333 (Pupil Premium applicants scoring 334+ are additionally admitted on top of these 20)
- Up to 10 places: Pupil Premium-eligible applicants at a Trafford state primary, scoring 324+
- Applicants living in the priority area, scoring 334+
- All other applicants scoring 334+, plus any remaining Pupil Premium applicants scoring 324+ not covered above
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | — | — | — | 63% (2026) | 85% (2026) |
| Summer 2026 GCSE (self-reported, DfE-validated tables not yet published as of this research): 35% of entries at grade 9, 62% at grades 8-9, 80% at grades 9-7. Progress 8/Attainment 8 not published by the school for this cohort. | |||||
| 2022 | 81.87 | 100% | — | 76% | — |
| 87% of grades at 7-9. A-level: 76% grades A*-A, 42% grade A*. Progress 8 not available for this year per the school's own results page. | |||||
Ofsted
- Rating
- Outstanding
- Date
- 27 September 2022
- Report
- Read the full report
Sources
- 1. DfE Get Information About Schools — URN, status, gender, capacity, LA — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/136458
- 2. School's own admissions overview — https://www.agsb.co.uk/page/?title=Admissions&pid=8
- 3. School's own entrance examination page — test board, format, consortium — https://www.agsb.co.uk/page/?title=Entrance+Examination&pid=52
- 4. Determined Admissions Policy 2027 entry — qualifying scores, oversubscription criteria — https://www.agsb.co.uk/_site/data/files/admissions/policies/CAD8A6631FD7F89F287377CDD683464C.pdf
- 5. Ofsted provider page — https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/23/136458
- 6. Full Ofsted report, inspected 27 September 2022 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50198625
- 7. School's own exam results page (2022, 2019, 2018) — https://www.agsb.co.uk/page/?title=Exam+Results&pid=22
- 8. 2026 GCSE results announcement — https://www.agsb.co.uk/news/?nid=1&pid=105&storyid=142
- 9. 2026 A-level results announcement — https://www.agsb.co.uk/news/?nid=1&pid=105&storyid=141
- 10. Comparator: Urmston Grammar's own admissions policy (identical qualifying score) — https://www.urmstongrammar.org.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=1491&type=pdf
- 11. Trafford Council — Secondary admission outcomes 2026, realized distance and score data across Trafford's grammar schools — https://www.trafford.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/starting-school-and-admissions/secondary-admission-outcomes-2026
- 12. Local news — confirms GL Assessment through Sept 2027 entry, FSCE from Sept 2028 — https://altrincham.todaynews.co.uk/schools/2026/07/14/trafford-grammar-schools-announce-biggest-11-plus-changes-in-years-heres-what-it-means-for-parents/
- 13. School's own founding statement (1912) — https://www.agsb.co.uk/_site/data/files/admissions/induction/3474D6DD2EEDF949080FC9FEED89A403.pdf
Last updated 2026-08-30. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.