School admissions in Salford
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 80 of these schools also have a published admissions cutoff distance. Sorted by first preferences per place. We don't invent rankings: the order is arithmetic on a published figure, not a view about which school is better.
Reception places, September 2026
73 schools. 19 received more first preferences than they had places.
First preferences per place is the number of families naming the school first, divided by its published admission number. Above 1.00 means more first choices than places. It is not a ranking and not a measure of quality: a popular school can be easy to get into and a quiet one hard, because places are allocated by each school's own criteria, siblings and faith and banding first, with distance often the last tie-breaker. Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE.
Year 7 places, September 2026
15 schools. 6 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Hallows RC High School | 1.66 | 149 | not published |
| Beis Yaakov High School | 1.30 | 40 | not published |
| St Patrick's RC High School | 1.16 | 172 | not published |
| Moorside High School | 1.14 | 204 | 1.077 miles |
| St Ambrose Barlow Roman Catholic High School | 1.08 | 203 | not published |
| Ellesmere Park High School | 1.02 | 173 | 1.175 miles |
| Salford City Academy | 0.99 | 175 | 1.493 miles |
| Co-op Academy Walkden | 0.93 | 294 | 2.27 miles |
| Irlam and Cadishead Academy | 0.93 | 174 | not published |
| The Lowry Academy | 0.86 | 147 | not published |
| The Albion Academy | 0.86 | 195 | 1.194 miles |
| Star Salford Academy | 0.86 | 101 | 0.841 miles |
| Oasis Academy MediaCityUK | 0.77 | 174 | 1.679 miles |
| Co-op Academy Swinton | 0.73 | 166 | not published |
| Buile Hill Academy | 0.62 | 178 | 3.405 miles |
First preferences per place is the number of families naming the school first, divided by its published admission number. Above 1.00 means more first choices than places. It is not a ranking and not a measure of quality: a popular school can be easy to get into and a quiet one hard, because places are allocated by each school's own criteria, siblings and faith and banding first, with distance often the last tie-breaker. Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE.