St Ambrose Barlow Roman Catholic High School
Secondary · Voluntary aided school · Mixed · Salford
37 Ash Drive, Manchester, M27 9QP
65
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 28/02/2024
Application demand
93%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
92.3%
20.4% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,078
Capacity used
Over capacity103%
1,050 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
93%
1st preference success rate
180 of 194 families who put it first got an offer
208
Places offered
422
Total applications
2.0
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 194 | 180 | ● 93% |
| 2nd preference | 97 | 23 | ● 24% |
| 3rd preference | 91 | 4 | ● 4% |
| Later preferences (4th–6th) | 40 | 1 | ● 3% |
| Total | 422 | 208 | 49% |
1st preference success by year
Salford lets families list 6 preferences. 14 applications came from outside the council area (5 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Voluntary aided school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Ben Davis
- Address
- 37 Ash Drive, Wardley, Manchester, M27 9QP
- Phone
- 01619211570
- Local authority
- Salford
- Ward / constituency
- Swinton & Wardley · Worsley and Eccles
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 105989
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 30% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 21% | — | — |
| SEN support | 18% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 5 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
1,078 pupils · 1,050 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
28 February 2024
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessPersonal development Outstanding Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,126 pupils
Attendance
92.3%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.7%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
20.4%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
3.6%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.5%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 45.8 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.23 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 44% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 64% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.00 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 44.2 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 38% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 66.8% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 31.7% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.85 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 205 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 16.96 | 35 |
| Average grade | D- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 0% | 17% |
| A-level students | 59 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 205 | 13% | 47% | 69% | |
| Mathematics | 204 | 11% | 44% | 74% | |
| English Literature | 192 | 7% | 51% | 76% | |
| Religious Studies | 190 | 16% | 44% | 59% | |
| Combined Science | 164 | 7% | 35% | 55% | |
| History | 115 | 10% | 42% | 60% | |
| Geography | 73 | 12% | 47% | 64% | |
| Spanish | 60 | 47% | 75% | 92% | |
| Business | 39 | 8% | 64% | 77% | |
| Art and Design | 38 | 16% | 58% | 100% | |
| Physical Education | 35 | 3% | 40% | 69% | |
| Biology | 34 | 15% | 59% | 88% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Salford council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.