Contested schools in Manchester
These are the Manchester schools that turned first-choice families away in at least one of the last three years — either because more families named them first than they had places, or because they refused families who named them first anyway. Figures shown are for 2026/27. Demand is not a forecast: an oversubscribed school turns more families away, which is not the same as their appeals succeeding more often.
Appeal success rates for Manchester
Secondary schools (18)
Each has its own page with a 12-year demand history.
| School | Places | First choices | Per place |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Hulme's Grammar School | 167 | 313 | 1.87 |
| Saint Paul's Catholic High School | 165 | 300 | 1.82 |
| Didsbury High School | 207 | 365 | 1.76 |
| Eden Boys' Leadership Academy, Manchester | 137 | 226 | 1.65 |
| Co-op Academy Belle Vue | 222 | 364 | 1.64 |
| Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester | 139 | 214 | 1.54 |
| Trinity CofE High School | 228 | 288 | 1.26 |
| St Peter's RC High School | 187 | 223 | 1.19 |
| Wright Robinson College | 344 | 398 | 1.16 |
| Our Lady's RC High School | 202 | 232 | 1.15 |
| Co-op Academy North Manchester | 225 | 248 | 1.10 |
| The King David High School | 87 | 94 | 1.08 |
| Levenshulme High School | 211 | 222 | 1.05 |
| Chorlton High School | 286 | 293 | 1.02 |
| Burnage Academy for Boys | 200 | 189 | 0.94 |
| Parrs Wood High School | 292 | 249 | 0.85 |
| Whalley Range 11-18 High School | 252 | 187 | 0.74 |
| CHS South | 222 | 121 | 0.55 |
Primary schools (37)
Primary schools are listed here as figures rather than pages. Most refusals at the Reception intake are infant class size cases, where a panel can only act on three narrow grounds and fewer than one in ten appeals succeeds — so the honest thing to publish is the data, not a page inviting an appeal.
| School | Places | First choices | Per place |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Olive School, Manchester | 60 | 112 | 1.87 |
| Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School | 30 | 50 | 1.67 |
| Abbott Community Primary School | 29 | 48 | 1.66 |
| Cringle Brook Primary School | 30 | 42 | 1.40 |
| Crown Street Primary School | 30 | 42 | 1.40 |
| Didsbury CofE Primary School | 30 | 37 | 1.23 |
| William Hulme's Grammar School | 60 | 74 | 1.23 |
| Manley Park Primary School | 60 | 71 | 1.18 |
| West Didsbury CE Primary School | 60 | 71 | 1.18 |
| Alma Park Primary School | 60 | 70 | 1.17 |
| Crowcroft Park Primary School | 30 | 35 | 1.17 |
| Longsight Community Primary | 30 | 35 | 1.17 |
| St Elizabeth's Catholic Primary School | 30 | 35 | 1.17 |
| Armitage CofE Primary School | 59 | 65 | 1.10 |
| St James' CofE Primary School, Birch-in-Rusholme | 30 | 33 | 1.10 |
| Gorton Primary School | 60 | 64 | 1.07 |
| Green End Primary School | 60 | 63 | 1.05 |
| Mount Carmel RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | 60 | 63 | 1.05 |
| All Saints Primary School | 29 | 30 | 1.03 |
| Crossacres Primary Academy | 90 | 93 | 1.03 |
| Holy Name Roman Catholic Primary School Manchester | 30 | 31 | 1.03 |
| St James' CofE Primary School Gorton | 60 | 62 | 1.03 |
| Varna Community Primary School | 60 | 61 | 1.02 |
| Chorlton CofE Primary School | 30 | 30 | 1 |
| Ravensbury Community School | 59 | 59 | 1 |
| St Edmund's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | 17 | 17 | — |
| St Wilfrid's CofE Junior and Infant School | 25 | 25 | 1 |
| St Paul's CofE Primary School | 41 | 40 | 0.98 |
| St Clement's CofE Primary School | 30 | 29 | 0.97 |
| St Richard's RC Primary School | 60 | 58 | 0.97 |
| St Margaret Mary's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | 45 | 43 | 0.96 |
| St Willibrord's RC Primary School | 21 | 20 | 0.95 |
| Beaver Road Primary School | 139 | 131 | 0.94 |
| Co-op Academy Broadhurst | 28 | 26 | 0.93 |
| Pike Fold Primary School | 52 | 48 | 0.92 |
| Northenden Community School | 29 | 26 | 0.90 |
| Co-op Academy New Islington | 58 | 47 | 0.81 |
Department for Education, Primary and secondary school applications and offers, school-level file, 2026/27. Appeal outcomes are not published for individual schools — how we source and calculate the figures.