Trafford has been listed in the top ten areas nationally that contain the most outstanding schools. The borough is the only area outside London that made it into the top ten, with a third of its schools achieving the highest possible rating.
The prestigious list is based on inspections carried out by education watchdog, Ofsted, for each area of the UK. Trafford sits eighth in the national list, compiled by Money.co.uk, with 35.87pc of the borough’s schools securing an outstanding rating.
Nationally the top area for outstanding schools is Kensington and Chelsea in London, with 60pc of its schools receiving the top Ofsted rating. Only four areas outside of London made it into the top 20 national list – with Trafford being the top non-London area among them.
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Trafford also regularly sits near the top of national tables as one of the best local authorities when it comes to grades too. The number of consistently high ranking schools in the borough has caused an influx of families moving to the area in a bid to live within school catchment areas.
The resulting pressure on Trafford school places has been enormous, with oversubscription causing Trafford council to apply to national and regional education boards for support. In September 2021, Trafford council pleaded for help in combating the ‘unprecedented’ pressure it was facing in regards to its school places.
Coun Karina Carter, executive member for education at Trafford council at the time, was candid about the difficulty of the situation. She said: “On national offer day we had sufficient places in Trafford. We offered 94pc first choice primary school places, 98pc second choice and 99pc third choice. We did not have a shortage of places at that time.
“Since then, unprecedented doesn’t even cover how many families we had move into area. As always we welcome these families, including from the initiative to move people in from Hong Kong. The stamp duty holiday also made Trafford a more attractive borough.”
A total of 800 families applied for primary school places for their children between May and September 2021. Coun Carter added: “The admission team have done brilliant jobs, we’ve had primary places allocted to all of those children which is an amazing job.
“All of high schools apart from Lostock are their own admission authority so we don’t have as clear a picture of what’s going on there. We can see the amount of children from out of the borough that some of those schools take, but they’re all academies, so unfortunately there’s nothing we can do.”
Coun Adele New, Trafford council’s lead member for schools, said: “Having so many outstanding schools is testament to our amazing children, headteachers, teachers, school staff and parents.
“Our schools are so important. They provide brilliant education to set our children up for life. They are also a safe and welcoming environment, so our children can thrive, be themselves and achieve their potential.
“We will continue to work hard and support our schools so they can develop further and continue to provide outstanding education to all the children in Trafford.”
For more information on the Money.co.uk rankings, click here.
