St Ambrose Barlow RC High School
Voluntary aided school in Manchester, M27 9QP, taking ages 11 to 16, 1,078 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 1.51 miles Salford published for 2025/26, as the checker measures.
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Will an address get in?
In 2025/26, the furthest child offered a place lived 1.51 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.
How this compares: every Salford school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 1.51 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.
St Ambrose Barlow RC High School: 1.51 miles, 2025/26 Mossfield Primary School: 0.51 miles, 2025/26, published by Salford
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When St Ambrose Barlow RC High School is oversubscribed, places go outward from the school until they run out, so the distance moves each year with how many families applied and where they lived.
Distances are measured from the postcode's centre, not a front door; a postcode covers a few houses. Siblings, looked-after children and faith criteria come before distance, so a school can fill before distance counts at all.
Real admission areas are not circular: the circle is the distance, not a boundary. The labels on the map are postcode districts whose centre falls inside both circles; each opens the district's guide.
The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.
One published year so far: 2025/26, from Salford. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.
Source: Salford, published admission distances, 2025/26
Where St Ambrose Barlow RC High School and Mossfield Primary School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. Mossfield Primary School admitted from 0.51 miles in 2025/26, published by Salford. Its own page has the rest of its figures.
1 postcode district falls inside both distances, and none has enough recorded sales around its centre to rank on price: M27. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.
Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.
Drop Mossfield Primary School and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Salford, 16 of 204 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (7.8%; England 19.9%), counted for all the council's schools together. How every council compares.
Other schools nearby with a published distance
The closest schools to St Ambrose Barlow RC High School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wardley CofE Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.73 mi 2025/26 | 0.4 mi |
| Mossfield Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.51 mi 2025/26 | 0.7 mi |
| Moorside High School Both in reach | Secondary | 0.68 mi 2025/26 | 0.9 mi |
| The Deans Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.74 mi 2025/26 | 1.1 mi |
| Broadoak Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.57 mi 2025/26 | 1.2 mi |
| Mesne Lea Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.78 mi 2025/26 | 1.5 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Admissions | Non-selective |
| Religious character | Roman Catholic |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 1,078 pupils in 1,050 places (103% full, over capacity) |
| Local authority | Salford |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Good, inspected 30 April 2024 |
| Attainment 8 | 44.2 (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | -0.23 |
| 2022/23 | -0.38 |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to St Ambrose Barlow RC High School
| Girls and boys | 48.1% girls, 51.9% boys |
| English as an additional language | 19.3% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 30.0% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Where St Ambrose Barlow RC High School's Year 11 went next
| Stayed for the sixth form | 0.5% |
| Sixth-form college | 25.2% |
| Further education college | 56.7% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.3% |
| Employment | 2.9% |
| No sustained destination recorded | 5.7% |
DfE destination measures, 2022/23. Broad categories only: the DfE does not publish which named schools or colleges pupils moved to.
Postcode districts within 1.51 miles
Districts whose centre falls inside 2025/26's distance. A district is wide, so check the address itself rather than the list.
| District | Area | From the school |
|---|---|---|
| M27 | Salford | 1.0 mi |
Getting to St Ambrose Barlow RC High School by bus
Best-served stop: Arundel Street, 0.2 mi away, with 7.2 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 04:23, last 01:27 after midnight.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ash Drive | 133 yd | 1.8 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 66 |
| Tamarin Close | 0.1 mi | 5.8 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 37, 29, X39 |
| Tamarin Close | 0.1 mi | 5.5 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 37, 29 |
These are scheduled departures, not buses observed running. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two rows.
Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport), week of 8 Sep 2026
The fee-paying alternative
Weighing St Ambrose Barlow RC High School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around M27: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at M27 9QP, by the school: council tax, energy, prices, rent, stamp duty →
Checking the house as well as the school
The full report checks one address against every nearby school, with sold prices, flood risk and crime.
Common questions
What is the catchment area for St Ambrose Barlow RC High School?
St Ambrose Barlow RC High School does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in 2025/26 lived 1.51 miles away, per Salford.
How close do I need to live to get a place at St Ambrose Barlow RC High School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.51 miles was enough in 2025/26, and at 103% full the school has little slack. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.
Does buying a house near St Ambrose Barlow RC High School guarantee a place?
No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings and faith criteria ahead of distance, so places can be filled before distance is reached. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.
Every Salford school's distance
All Salford schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
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Admission distance published by Salford. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.