Apply to Saint Ambrose College, in plain English.
Saint Ambrose College is a selective Catholic grammar school for boys in Hale Barns, Altrincham, run by the Laetare Catholic Multi Academy Trust in the Diocese of Shrewsbury. Boys sit the school's own Entrance Examination — register direct with the school by 6 July 2026 — and must reach the qualifying score of 320 to be considered; places are then ranked by faith, baptised Catholics first, with no catchment area. Around 415 boys are named for roughly 140 places, so reaching the qualifying score does not guarantee an offer.
The three things to know first.
If you read nothing else on this page, read these.
Your son sits Saint Ambrose's own entrance exam — register by 6 July 2026.
Saint Ambrose is not in the Trafford Consortium; it runs its own Entrance Examination — verbal reasoning, mathematics and English — sat on Friday 18 September 2026. You register directly with the school online; registration opens 21 April 2026 and closes at midday on 6 July 2026, and late entries cannot be considered until after offer day. Your son must reach a total age-standardised score of 320 to be considered, and you are told the outcome by 23 October 2026, before the council deadline.
Faith comes first — and you must produce a Baptism certificate to be ranked on it.
Among boys who reach the qualifying score, places are allocated by faith category: baptised Roman Catholics first, then catechumens and Eastern Christian Church members, then other practising Christian denominations, then everyone else. To be considered Catholic — or of another Church — you must produce a Baptism certificate (or certificate of reception) when you register, confirming the baptism took place before the closing date of 6 July 2026. Without it your son is treated as a boy of no faith and ranks in the lowest categories.
There is no catchment — a Catholic parish postcode helps, distance only breaks ties.
Saint Ambrose has no designated catchment area and considers applications from any local authority. Living in one of the school's nominated Local Pastoral Areas — defined by postcode (all WA14, WA15, M31, M33, M16, M21, M32 and M41 postcodes) — lifts a baptised Catholic boy up the Catholic order, but it is a faith-priority, not a boundary, and only Catholic boys benefit from it. Where boys tie for the last place in a category, the closer home wins, measured in a straight line. So distance matters only for tie-breaks, not for the faith ranking itself.
Five steps — starting now.
If more qualifying boys apply than there are places, these criteria decide.
First, a boy with an EHC plan naming Saint Ambrose who has passed the exam is admitted. Then, among boys who reached the qualifying score, places are allocated by faith category in the order below. Within every category, boys in receipt of the Pupil Premium (which here includes the Service Premium) are ranked first, then by closest distance, with the highest exam score only the final tie-break. Tap any criterion to see the exact wording.
In plain English: A baptised Roman Catholic boy who has reached the qualifying score and is currently in council care, or who left care through adoption, a child arrangements order or special guardianship, has the very first priority. This includes children who were in state care outside England and left it through adoption.
What the document says: Baptised Catholic boys who are designated 'looked after children' or 'previously looked after children'.
In plain English: A baptised Roman Catholic boy who has reached the qualifying score and has a brother at Saint Ambrose when he would start. A brother means a full, half, step, adopted or foster brother of admissions age living permanently at the same address.
What the document says: Baptised Catholic boys who have a brother attending the school at the time of admission.
In plain English: A baptised Roman Catholic boy who has reached the qualifying score and whose home postcode falls in one of the school's nominated Local Pastoral Areas — all WA14, WA15, M31 and M33 postcodes (St Ambrose Deanery, Diocese of Shrewsbury) and all M16, M21, M32 and M41 postcodes (St Ambrose Barlow Deanery, Diocese of Salford). It is a faith-and-postcode priority within the Catholic order, not a geographic catchment — only Catholic boys gain from it.
What the document says: Baptised Catholic Boys whose home address postcode falls within a nominated Local Pastoral Area. Details are provided on the list of Nominated Local Pastoral Areas.
In plain English: Any other baptised Roman Catholic boy who has reached the qualifying score — those without a brother at the school or a matching pastoral-area postcode. This is where most Catholic applicants without a sibling link sit.
What the document says: Other Baptised Catholic boys.
In plain English: After the four baptised-Catholic categories come, in order: other looked-after and previously looked-after boys; then catechumens and members of an Eastern Christian Church; then baptised Christian boys with a brother at the school; then practising Christians of other denominations (with a minister's reference); then other boys with a brother at the school; then all other boys. A boy does not have to be Catholic to apply, but non-Catholic boys rank below the Catholic categories above.
What the document says: 5. Other Boys who are designated 'looked after children' or 'previously looked after children'. 6. Catechumens and members of an Eastern Christian Church. 7. Baptised Christian boys who have a brother attending the school. 8. Christian boys practising in other Christian denominations supported by a minister's reference. 9. Other boys who have a brother attending the school. 10. Other boys.
In plain English: The faith categories above set the order. Inside each one, if there are more boys than places, boys in receipt of the Pupil Premium — which this policy defines to include the Service Premium for armed-forces families — are ranked first, then boys who live closest to the school. The highest exam score is used only to separate two boys who live exactly the same distance away.
What the document says: In the event of over-subscription within any one of the categories, priority will be given to those boys who are in receipt of Pupil Premium followed by boys who live closest to the School… Where more than one boy lives the same distance in any category, then priority will be given to the boy with the highest score in the Entrance Examination. (Pupil Premium "refers to Pupil Premium and Service Premium".)
Tie-breaks: Within any category, after Pupil Premium and distance, the highest exam score wins, and if scores tie a place is decided by a witnessed random draw. Distance is measured in a straight line from your home to the school using Trafford's Local Land and Property Gazetteer (BS7666). Reaching the qualifying score does not guarantee a place, and a place can be withdrawn if false evidence is given on baptism, brothers or residence.
No boundary — faith decides, and distance only breaks ties.
Saint Ambrose has no designated catchment, so a boy who reaches the qualifying score can be considered from anywhere on equal terms. What orders the list is faith — baptised Roman Catholics first (looked-after, brother, pastoral-area postcode, then other Catholics), then other looked-after boys, catechumens and Eastern Christians, other Christian denominations, then everyone else — with Pupil Premium and then distance deciding rank within each group. Distance is only the final tie-breaker for the last place in a category.
Distance is measured in a straight line from your permanent home address to the school, using Trafford's mapping system — not by walking or driving route. The displayed circle on our map is illustrative only; it is not a real boundary, and no fixed cutoff distance is published.
See Saint Ambrose's location on the GrammarBound mapFaith ranks ahead of a closer home from another group.
Both boys reach the qualifying score. Boy A is a baptised Catholic, placing him in the Catholic categories; Boy B lives closer but belongs to a lower faith category. Because faith sets the order before distance, Boy A is ranked ahead. Distance would only separate two boys inside the same category.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Waiting list
Boys who reached the qualifying score but were not offered a place are held on a waiting list, ranked by the same oversubscription criteria — not by the order you joined. The list is kept until the end of the Autumn term of Year 7. Ask Saint Ambrose to keep your son on the list.
Request a waiting-list place via Saint Ambrose directly.
Appeal
You have the right to appeal to an independent panel, which follows the statutory School Admission Appeals Code. Appeals in the normal round are heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging them, and the appeals timetable is published on the school website by 28 February. Appealing does not remove your son from the waiting list — you can do both.
Joining Year 12.
Saint Ambrose admits internal students who meet the grades and offers around 10 external Year 12 places, allocated once internal applicants have been placed.
The grade floor.
To study three A levels plus a supplementary subject (an EPQ or Core Maths), a student needs a minimum Attainment 8 score of 60, including at least a grade 5 in Mathematics and English Language and a grade 6 in each subject to be studied (grade 7 for Maths, Biology, Chemistry or Physics). Four A levels need a higher Attainment 8 of 75 with grade 6 in Maths and English. Individual subjects set their own grade requirements on top of this.
Apply direct to the school.
All applicants — internal and external — complete an online application listing their A-level subject choices; sixth-form entry is not co-ordinated by the local authority. Offers are conditional on GCSE results and confirmed on results day once the grade requirements are met, including any subject-specific grades. Where external places are oversubscribed, the same faith categories apply, ranked by Pupil Premium and then distance, with the highest Attainment 8 score as the tie-break.