Oversubscribed schools: the hardest secondary school in each borough of Greater Manchester to get into

For parents across Greater Manchester getting their children into their preferred secondary school can be an anxious and stressful time - and figures show it is a process which leaves many families in the city-region disappointed.

Data analysed by our sister title NationalWorld looks at which is the toughest high school for parents to get their children into in each of the city-region’s 10 boroughs.

In four local authority areas - Bolton, Manchester, Oldham and Trafford - fewer than half of the people who put the most oversubscribed school in the borough down as a first preference got a place.

And some of the hardest schools to get into had hundreds of parents who put it down first but did not get a place there for their child.

Across the North West as a whole 15% of parents who applied did not get a place at their preferred school, meaning 12,808 children started learning at a place that was not their parents’ first preference. In England 17% of secondary school applicants did not get a place at their first choice school.

Just how competitive is it to get into secondary schools in Greater Manchester? Here we reveal the most oversubscribed high school in each of the 10 boroughs of the city-region.