Academy converter

Sale High School

Mixed · ages 11–16 · no sixth formTrafford, North West · Sale M33 3JRTrust: United Learning TrustSchool website
Pupils on roll
1,103of 1,080 places
Free school meals
21.5%
Year 11 cohort 2025
203
Ofsted
Standards maintained, 18 December 2024Read the Ofsted report

Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Sale High School (URN 106375, until 1 August 2025).

What the data says

Sale High School has no sixth form. Of the 198 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 32% moved to a sixth form college, 43% to a further education college and 2% started an apprenticeship.

Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 32% of leavers went to one, roughly twice the England rate of 13%.

Art and Design is unusually popular at GCSE: 23% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils across England.

GCSE results in 2025 were above the national picture: Attainment 8 of 49.0 against 46.1 across England and 57.9 in Trafford, with 46% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).

Where pupils went after Year 11

Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Trafford and England.

Sale High School
Trafford
England
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
MeasureSale High SchoolTraffordEngland
Pupils in the cohort1983,338607,348
Any sustained destination94%95%92%
Stayed in education88%92%86%
— school sixth form13%42%34%
— sixth form college32%20%13%
— further education college43%27%37%
— other education0%3%2%
Apprenticeship2%2%3%
Employment4%2%3%
No sustained destination3%3%6%
Destination unknown3%2%3%

GCSE results 2025

MeasureSale High SchoolTraffordEngland
Attainment 8 (average points per pupil)49.057.946.1
Grade 5 or above in English and maths46%64%45%
Grade 4 or above in English and maths68%79%65%
Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects50%50%41%
EBacc average point score4.505.244.09
Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort31%19%28%
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils36.840.034.9
Attainment 8 — other pupils54.462.150.4
Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2)
English as an additional language20%18%19%

Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.

Subjects taken at GCSE

Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEnglandGrades 7–9EnglandGrades 4–9
Mathematics202100%88%26%22%71%
English Language202100%89%15%20%69%
English Literature20099%86%21%21%77%
Religious Studies19295%31%27%32%65%
Combined Science14772%65%14%9%59%
French11054%18%30%29%87%
History8843%41%32%26%68%
Geography8039%41%29%25%68%
Computer Science6733%13%10%30%51%
Design and Technology6130%11%11%23%56%
Physics5326%23%60%46%96%
Chemistry5326%23%62%47%98%
Biology5326%23%57%45%96%
Art and Design4623%7%9%24%57%
Physical Education199%11%26%24%63%
Drama147%7%14%27%43%
Chinese105%1%100%75%100%
Music52%5%33%
Arabic42%1%47%
Persian21%0%77%
Russian10%0%87%
Turkish10%0%71%

Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEngland
Hospitality / Catering Studies17
Health Studies17

Other secondary schools in Trafford

Altrincham College

Academy converter · sixth form · 973 pupils

88% stayed in education · Attainment 8 48.5

Broadoak School

Academy converter · 507 pupils

83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.4

Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.