Saint Paul's Catholic High School: admissions history
How many families applied, how many places there were, and how far the last place went - every year we hold.
For September 2026 entry, 300 families put Saint Paul's Catholic High School as their first choice and 548 named it as one of their preferences, for 165 places offered. That is 1.8 first choices for every place. 143 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
First-choice demand has risen from 151 in 2021 to 300 in 2026, while places went from 180 to 165.
Across Manchester, 77% of families were offered their first-choice secondary school for 2026 entry, and 95% were offered one of the schools they named.
In 2025, families in Manchester lodged 503 appeals against secondary school offers; 368 reached a hearing and 60 succeeded (16.3% of those heard).
Applications and offers by year
| Entry year | Places offered | First choices | Named at all | First choices per place | First choices not offered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 165 | 300 | 548 | 1.8 | 143 |
| 2025 | 169 | 295 | 535 | 1.7 | 137 |
| 2024 | 165 | 270 | 510 | 1.6 | 114 |
| 2023 | 169 | 209 | 432 | 1.2 | 52 |
| 2022 | 190 | 167 | 310 | 0.9 | 3 |
| 2021 | 180 | 151 | 271 | 0.8 | 0 |
| 2020 | 163 | 124 | 222 | 0.8 | 0 |
| 2019 | 143 | 96 | 185 | 0.7 | 0 |
| 2018 | 105 | 97 | 179 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 2017 | 145 | 97 | 185 | 0.7 | 0 |
| 2016 | 167 | 107 | 251 | 0.6 | 1 |
| 2015 | 179 | 153 | 262 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 2014 | 177 | 154 | 268 | 0.9 | 0 |
Source: DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school-level file). "Places offered" is the number of offers made on national offer day, which can differ from the school's published admission number.