Trafford Council’s and the Consortium’s own wording, read for a family still abroad
Book a Free ConsultationTrafford Council’s secondary application is separate from registering for a grammar test. Its wording is written for families who live in Trafford: “If you live in Trafford and your child will start in Year 7 in September 2027, you must apply to Trafford for your school place.” Which council takes a form from abroad is a question for Trafford. The 2027 tests fell on 14 and 18 September 2026; the council’s closing date is 31 October 2026.
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Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppTrafford Council’s page on the grammar entrance test says of the five Consortium schools: “You should have already registered to sit the test on the test date of 14 September 2026.” It adds that “The borough's two other grammar schools have a different test, scheduled for 18 September 2026”: Loreto Grammar School and St Ambrose College. Both dates have passed. The council application runs on a separate clock that has not yet closed.
| Date | What happens | Status | Where it is published |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 September 2026 | Trafford’s secondary application system opened; the council’s words were “The application system will open on 1 September 2026.” | Passed | Trafford Council |
| 12 noon Thursday 23 April to 12 noon Friday 19 June 2026 | Online registration window for the 14 September 2026 Consortium test; confirmation email due “within 3 days of submission” | Passed | Altrincham Grammar School for Boys; Stretford timetable |
| 14 September 2026 | Consortium test: Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, Sale Grammar School, Stretford Grammar School, Urmston Grammar School | Passed | Trafford Council |
| 18 September 2026 | Separate test: Loreto Grammar School and St Ambrose College | Passed | Trafford Council |
| Prior to 31st October 2026 | Test results “communicated to all parents as soon as they are available” | Published as “Prior to 31st October 2026” | Stretford timetable |
| 31 October 2026 | Closing date for secondary applications; changes can be made at any time before it. The Common Application Form “must be returned to the home Local Authority by this date” | Ahead | Trafford Council; Stretford timetable |
| 1 March 2027 | National offer day, “where all applicants receive their offer of a place” | Ahead | Trafford Council |
| 15 March 2027 | “Acceptance for initial school offers” | Ahead | Stretford timetable |
| April 2027 | “Review of allocation of vacancies” | Ahead | Trafford Council |
Source: the council and school pages linked in the table, all read on 4 October 2026.
The council’s entrance test page says: “You must contact your preferred grammar school directly to register to sit the test.” The Consortium’s 2027 window (23 April to 19 June 2026) and the test dates have passed; the council form still has a date ahead of it.
Each route is quoted with the council’s conditions; the questions for the council are collected near the end.
The council’s Starting secondary school page states: “The closing date for secondary school applications is 31 October 2026.” It also warns: “If you only apply directly to a school, your application will not be considered.” On changes, the page on making an application says: “Before the 31 October deadline, you can make changes to your application at any time by logging into your online account. We will use the last application you submitted by the deadline date.”
The council’s instruction opens with a condition: “If you live in Trafford and your child will start in Year 7 in September 2027, you must apply to Trafford for your school place.” For a family still abroad, the Department for Education’s guidance on school applications from overseas children says: “If an application is made from another country, local authorities should consider the application as adequate proof of an intention to move or return to the area and include it within the local authority co-ordinated process.” Whether a family with no English address can submit before 31 October 2026, and through which online account, is the first question for the council’s admissions team (school.admissions@trafford.gov.uk or 0161 912 5007, as the council publishes them).
Late applications. The council’s page on making an application says: “Applications received after 31 October are considered late applications. They will only be considered after all on-time applications have been processed.”
A changed address. The council’s page on making an application sets the rule in three passages. “If you change address after the 31 October deadline, your application will be processed using your previous address until National Offer Day (or the next working day after 1 March).” Then: “If you're not offered a preferred school, you can apply for vacancies in the review process. This will require proof of residency and confirmation that your previous property has been vacated.” And: “You must inform us immediately if you move. Your new address may affect school priority, and failure to report it could result in your offer being withdrawn.” It adds: “Some schools may have different deadlines for when you move.” For a family moving from abroad, the question is what the council accepts when the previous home is overseas.
The review process. The council’s 2027 scheme dates the vacancy rounds that follow the first offers.
| Date in 2027 | What the scheme says | Where it is published |
|---|---|---|
| By 15 March (or next working day) | “Parents will be invited to apply for any vacancies that may arise by 15 March (or next working day).” | 2027 scheme |
| After 15 March | “At this stage in the review process, any applications received after the closing date of 15 March will be considered in light of any remaining vacancies, and places will be allocated in line with the published criteria.” | 2027 scheme |
| After 9 July | “Applications received after 9 July will be passed to the relevant admission authority for consideration after 1 September.” | 2027 scheme |
Source: Trafford Council, 2027 Secondary coordinated admissions scheme, review process section, read on 4 October 2026.
Where the grammar test fits. None of these dates creates a grammar school place on its own: the council’s entrance test page says “If you want to be considered for a grammar school place, you must first pass the entrance test for that school.” The School Admissions Code 2021, at paragraph 2.9, says admission authorities “must not refuse to admit a child solely because” of five listed circumstances, one being “they have missed entrance tests for selective places”. How the two statements apply to a child who did not sit a 2027 test is a question for each grammar school’s admissions team, in writing. The schools’ own late-registration wording and address rules are in the Trafford guide’s section on applying from overseas.
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Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppThe council defines the route: “An in-year application is when a child applies to transfer from one school to another during the school year. It includes families who have recently moved into Trafford from another area.” The Changing schools page adds: “We aim to process applications within 10 school days.”
On availability, the council’s Changing schools page says, as read on 4 October 2026: “There are no secondary school places available in these year groups and areas: Altrincham and Sale - year groups 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11”. It continues: “If you move to live in Sale or Altrincham during the school year, we will likely offer you a secondary school place in another area of Trafford.” For current availability: “For the latest information on which schools have places available, email school.admissions@trafford.gov.uk”.
The Changing schools page says: “Faith schools and academies are their own admission authority schools and they process their own applications. You must still apply through our online portal. We will forward your application details to these schools for them to process.” The 2027 scheme adds: “Parents may submit an in-year application directly to any academy or school.”
In Trafford’s 2025 report to the Schools Adjudicator, the question “For what proportion of secondary schools in your area did the local authority co-ordinate in-year admissions during the 2024/2025 academic year” is answered “Between 0% and 24%”. Whether a particular grammar school takes in-year applications directly or through the council’s portal is a question to put to that school.
DfE’s guidance reads: “Where a local authority co-ordinates in-year applications on behalf of a school, it should not require applicants to currently live in the area (or the country) before passing the application on to the admission authority for it to consider.”
The Code says: “Regardless of which schools parents express preferences for, the CAF is required to be returned to the local authority in the area that they live (the ‘home’ authority).” The council’s page on choosing a school says: “If you live outside of Trafford, you will receive information from where you live.” The 2027 scheme says: “Information on how to apply will be sent to all parents of pupils resident in Trafford at their home address.”
Those sentences assume a home address in England. DfE’s guidance addresses that position: “A local authority should not refuse an application made from overseas (or from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands) on the grounds that the applicant does not currently live in its area.” Which council’s portal receives the form from an address abroad is the second question for Trafford in writing. DfE’s wider rules are in our guide to applying for a Year 7 place from abroad, and the separate check on a child’s right to attend a state school is in our guide to foreign national children and UK grammar schools.
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The council’s page on making an application defines a home address: “A child’s home address is defined as their permanent, full-time residence. It cannot be that of a grandparent, relative, or childminder.”
Crown servants and service personnel. The council’s page for children of crown servants and UK service personnel says: “For families of service personnel (UK armed forces) with a confirmed posting to Trafford, or crown servants returning to live in Trafford from overseas, a secondary school place can be allocated before you arrive in the area.” It sets two requirements: “When you apply, you must submit an official letter with a relocation date, and evidence of your new address.” On an oversubscribed school: “If your preferred school is oversubscribed, we will use the advised address to consider your application against the oversubscription criteria.”
The Code supplies the conditions. Paragraph 2.21 says that for “families of service personnel with a confirmed posting, or crown servants returning from overseas, admission authorities must” allocate “a place in advance of the family arriving in the area (as long as one is available), provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date.” They must also “use the address at which the child will live when applying their oversubscription criteria, as long as the parents provide some evidence of their intended address.”
DfE’s explanatory note on children of Crown servants defines the letter as an “Official Government letter issued by a Government department e.g. FCDO, UKVi, DIT.” It says: “Where a school is oversubscribed, the admission authority needs to be satisfied that places are allocated lawfully, in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. Admission authorities may expect to have some level of certainty about a family’s intended new address”. On proof: “This could be proof of exchange of contracts or a letting agreement.” Where a family cannot yet confirm an address, “they are advised to provide an indication of the area, narrowed down as far as possible, to which the family intend to return.” Our forces families guide covers the full route.
Other families. The condition attached to priority in DfE’s guidance is worth reading in full: “If a parent is unable to provide evidence of a return to the area (before the new school year for applications made during the normal admissions round or for late applications, or by the start of the next term for in-year applications), admission authorities could apply a catchment area policy or distance tie-break, if they have such admission criteria, using the parents’ place of residence at the point the application is made. If this is in another country, it might give the child a lower priority for admission if the admission authority operates a catchment area or if the child is tied for the final place available with other applicants.”
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Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppThe Consortium’s notice, published on Sale Grammar School’s website and repeated on the Altrincham schools’ sites, sets the provider and test date for each entry year. For 2027 entry: “the test provider will be GL and the admissions test will be held in September 2026”. For 2028 entry: “the test provider will be FSCE and the admissions test will be held in September of Year 6.” The change of provider is covered on our Trafford 11+ page.
On content, for the 2028-entry sitting, the notice says: “Beginning with the entrance test to be sat in September 2027, the content of the admissions test will change from verbal, non-verbal and mathematical reasoning. The new admissions test will draw on the Key Stage 2 English and mathematics national curriculum programmes of study up to the end of Year 5.” For 2029 entry and later: “For entry to Year 7 in 2029 onwards, the test provider will continue to be FSCE and the admissions test will be held in the latter part of the Summer Term of Year 5.”
On registration, this page states the 2027-entry sequence and labels it as such: the online window opened at 12 noon on Thursday 23 April 2026 and closed at 12 noon on Friday 19 June 2026, ahead of a test on 14 September 2026 (see the Altrincham Grammar School for Boys entrance examination page). The 2028-entry dates, and how a family without an English address registers, are questions for the schools: ask each Consortium school’s admissions team in writing, and ask early.
Where a published sentence opens with a residence condition, the useful output is a question with its source beside it. The council’s secondary admission policies page states: “Trafford is the admission authority for one secondary school, Lostock High School.” It adds: “You can find the admission policy for every other secondary school in Trafford, including the oversubscription criteria, on their individual website.” Send questions 1 to 5 in an email to school.admissions@trafford.gov.uk (the council also publishes 0161 912 5007), and questions 6 to 8 to each grammar school’s admissions team, so every answer is on record.
The calendar above decides when a plan starts and ends, so a first conversation with us is about dates. Leading Tuition prepares children for UK 11+ entry from abroad: tuition can be one to one, and families outside the UK can take the whole programme online. Our expert 11+ tutors help children living abroad prepare for the exact test their target area sets, and they plan the work around the family’s return date: the route a grammar school confirms in writing for a late move, the September 2027 sitting for 2028 entry, or the relocation date in a Crown servant’s official letter. See our guide to online 11+ tuition across time zones. For the tests grammar schools set in-year, read our guide to joining a grammar school after Year 7; for a move part-way through a cycle, relocating to the UK mid-cycle. The from-overseas hub lists the other areas.
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Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppTrafford Council says: “You must contact your preferred grammar school directly to register to sit the test.” (entrance test page) For 2027 entry the Consortium test was on 14 September 2026 and the Loreto and St Ambrose test on 18 September 2026; both dates have passed. Email each school’s admissions team in writing to ask where a child abroad can sit and how registration works for a family without an English address.
The council defines a home address as “their permanent, full-time residence” (making an application). DfE says “A local authority should not refuse an application made from overseas” on the ground that the applicant does not currently live in its area (DfE guidance). Crown servant families submit “an official letter with a relocation date, and evidence of your new address” (council page). Ask school.admissions@trafford.gov.uk what it accepts as an intended address before 31 October 2026.
The council says: “Applications received after 31 October are considered late applications. They will only be considered after all on-time applications have been processed.” (making an application) Its 2027 scheme passes applications “received after 9 July” to the admission authority for consideration “after 1 September”. For a grammar place the council adds: “If you want to be considered for a grammar school place, you must first pass the entrance test for that school.” (entrance test page)
As read on 4 October 2026, the council states: “There are no secondary school places available in these year groups and areas: Altrincham and Sale - year groups 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11”. It says it will “likely offer you a secondary school place in another area of Trafford” for a mid-year move to Sale or Altrincham (Changing schools). For current availability email school.admissions@trafford.gov.uk.
The Consortium’s notice (Sale Grammar School) says: “For entry to Year 7 in 2028, the test provider will be FSCE and the admissions test will be held in September of Year 6.” From the September 2027 sitting the content draws on “the Key Stage 2 English and mathematics national curriculum programmes of study up to the end of Year 5”. Ask each school for its registration dates.
The council says a place “can be allocated before you arrive in the area” for “service personnel (UK armed forces) with a confirmed posting to Trafford, or crown servants returning to live in Trafford from overseas” (council page). Code paragraph 2.21 applies “as long as one is available”, “provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date” (School Admissions Code 2021).
Reviewed 4 October 2026 against Trafford Council’s secondary admissions pages and its 2027 secondary coordinated admissions scheme, the Department for Education guidance on school applications from overseas children, the School Admissions Code 2021 and the Trafford Grammar School Consortium’s published notice.
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