Choosing a Greater Manchester school your family can grow with

Six schools—and the distinctions to make first

Two names cause avoidable confusion. Manchester Grammar and Stockport Grammar are fee-paying independent schools, not Trafford state grammars. Cheadle Hulme School is not Cheadle Hulme High School. Check the full name on the application, the address and the admissions website before paying a registration fee.

Bolton also needs a little explanation. A brother and sister can belong to the same school foundation without sharing their everyday classroom. Junior and Senior teaching is organised into separate Boys’ and Girls’ divisions. If mixed lessons are important to your child, shared facilities and joint events are not the same thing.

Use the linked profiles to explore lessons, support, activities and admissions in detail. This comparison does a different job: helping you decide which visits are worth your time, and what would change your mind about a school after you have visited.

Six schools, six versions of the 11+

Every school on this list sets a Year 7 assessment, but the papers differ in length, subject and format. The calendar table further down has the dates; this one shows what a child would actually sit.

Only Cheadle Hulme assesses mainly on screen; Bolton’s three papers are multiple choice; Stockport’s maths credits correct working and Manchester High includes essay writing. Withington sets four separate papers, including 50 minutes of verbal reasoning. Manchester Grammar adds a separate assessment day to its papers.

All six are day schools, so the practical comparison is the journey and the length of the supervised day rather than boarding patterns.

Paper lengths and subjects are as our school guides found them. Confirm the current format with each school before timing practice papers.

Try the journey you would actually have to make

Greater Manchester is not one convenient school run. Bolton, the Stockport-area schools and the south Manchester schools create different daily patterns. Manchester Grammar’s address is on Old Hall Lane, not beside a city-centre station. A convenient train into Manchester is only part of the journey.

Test the whole route at a realistic time: home to the stop, the connection, the walk into school and the return. Then repeat the exercise for a day when your child stays for music or sport. Ask about the actual stop, booking rules, seat availability and what happens when a fixture returns late.

For a younger child, include the adult’s return journey. A route that works only while one parent drives every day may still be a reasonable choice—but it should be a conscious one, with a plan for illness and work changes.

We would usually favour the school that lets a child take part and still get home with some energy left. That is a family-fit judgement, not a claim that the nearest school is always best. A longer journey can be worthwhile for a particular programme or support arrangement; make the benefit specific.

“You can stay late” is only half an answer

Cheadle Hulme publishes free Senior supervision until 6pm. That is useful for some working parents, but it does not establish a late coach to your stop.

Stockport Grammar offers free late study, first in the Library and then, after 5.30pm, in a work room until 6pm. Its 2026–27 late bus is narrower: 5.15pm Monday–Thursday to Stockport Interchange. It is not a late version of every normal route.

Withington’s Senior care runs until 5.15pm, with collection by 5.30pm. Keep those two times distinct. At Manchester High, the 2025–26 handbook distinguishes supervised library study from unsupervised waiting classrooms.

MGS publishes Senior library opening until 6pm. Its currently linked November 2025 city-centre shuttle timetable includes a 5.15pm departure, with different stops from the normal service. Confirm the arrangements through the transport page. Library opening is not a promise of general childcare.

At Bolton, we have not verified a separate late-activity coach, so getting home after activities needs its own plan. At every school, get confirmation of your route before making it essential to your choice.

Compare the Year 7 bill—not six different headline prices

The figures below use 2026–27 Year 7 fees, including VAT. They are current reference figures, not September 2027 quotes. We include priced lunch or insurance where the school includes or requires it, and leave uncertain extras visible. This is not an all-in cost ranking.

For termly schedules, the annual calculation uses three terms. Stockport’s published rounded VAT line gives £5,183 tuition plus £1,037 VAT and £300 lunch per term: £6,520, or £19,560 a year. Cheadle Hulme’s fee page does not give a yearly lunch total.

Add your actual travel, uniform, music tuition, trips and any device purchase. Then separate recurring spending from the application fee and acceptance deposit. A refundable deposit can still create a cash-flow problem when several decisions arrive together.

For a younger child, repeat the calculation for the current stage and the Senior years ahead. For siblings, model the years when both will be paying Senior fees. A discount on one part of the bill does not necessarily touch lunch, travel or activities. Our fees and bursaries guide explains how to build that longer view.

Would your child get to join in?

A long activity list is only a starting point. For a beginner, the important questions are where they can start, who helps them settle and whether they will get a turn. For an experienced musician or athlete, ask about the level of the group, selection and clashes with outside commitments.

Cheadle Hulme says ordinary school sport has no trials and pupils can join practices during the year. That is a useful promise to explore, not a guarantee of a place on a preferred team.

Stockport describes introductory orchestral lessons for First Years, including beginners. MGS has a choir route without requiring confident music reading. At Withington, lunchtime clubs can offer alternatives to staying after school. These are concrete routes to ask about, not a ranking of music or enrichment quality.

Build a sample week with one activity your child already loves and one they would like to try. Add homework, travel, family time and sleep. If the week works only by abandoning everything outside school, decide whether that is a trade your child actually wants to make.

At sixth form, start again with subjects and independence

All six have external sixth-form routes, but a good Year 7 choice is not automatically the best Year 12 choice. Start with the subjects your teenager wants, the required GCSE grades and whether the combination actually fits the timetable. A course in a prospectus is not a promise that every combination will run.

Bolton’s joint sixth-form teaching does not make every subject or experience identical across the divisions. Compare the arrangements relevant to your teenager. Meeting a general minimum may not secure the chosen course.

Use our sixth-form admissions guide for the fuller process. For a move at 13 or 14, ask directly about occasional places; do not assume these day schools all run a routine 13+ intake like some boarding schools.

The 2027 Year 7 dates to put in your calendar

These dates concern September 2027 entry and were checked on 4 September 2026. Apply to each private school separately. Keep the application, examination, interview, funding and acceptance deadlines on different lines: completing one does not complete the others.

MGS Assessment Days begin on 21 September 2026; the January exam is not the whole process. At Cheadle Hulme, the entrance examination is on 5 January 2027. Bolton’s detailed examination FAQ was written for the previous cycle. Confirm the cohort and current instructions before arranging preparation or travel.

Financial help has its own deadlines. Manchester High’s bursary deadline is 9 December 2026, a week before its school application closes. Withington’s is 10 December 2026. Use the linked school calendars and ask the other schools for their exact funding dates rather than assuming the application deadline covers everything.

January can become a tiring run of assessments. Stockport’s exam is on 12 January, MGS and Manchester High’s on 13 January, and Bolton’s on 14 January. Not every date applies to the same child, but families with several applications or siblings should plan meals, travel and ordinary school absences alongside revision.

One preparation plan will not fit all six schools

Start with the actual tasks. MGS combines an Assessment Day with January English and Arithmetic papers; writing and group activities feature in the earlier day. Cheadle Hulme combines CEM Select with separate handwritten creative writing and other evidence. Neither is adequately described as a generic online 11+.

Stockport tests English, maths and verbal reasoning, with creative writing in English. Withington lists English, maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Manchester High also includes essay writing. A child who solves maths quickly may still need help planning a clear, complete piece of writing under time pressure.

Bolton’s published 2026 Senior format is multiple-choice English, maths and non-verbal reasoning; it does not identify an extended essay. Confirm that the format is unchanged for 2027. Do not transfer Junior CAT4 advice to Senior entry, or assume every school using reasoning papers buys the same test.

For a practical start, try a small piece of each school’s published material without heavy coaching. Look for patterns: misunderstood instructions, unfinished writing, careless arithmetic or a genuine knowledge gap. A percentage on one old paper is not an admission probability. Our private 11+ guide helps turn those observations into a manageable preparation plan.