• Hulme Grammar School comes across as friendly, aspirational and grounded, with continuity, character and day-to-day support all part of the same proposition.

• Will suit families who want a co-educational all-through day school in Oldham where children can be known well over time and where school life feels joined up.

Admissions at Hulme Grammar School are broad based and fairly accessible, with room for families to join early and continue through later stages. The process focuses on fit with the school's culture and all-through rhythm rather than on a highly theatrical form of selectivity.

Scholarships, entrance awards and bursary-style support form part of the wider proposition here. Even so, many families choose the school as much for character, opportunity and fit as for any award.

Published information is more developed than many smaller all-through schools, with a clear educational vision and a reasonable sense of pupil life beyond exam results. Parents should still test whether the atmosphere, curriculum and pastoral culture feel as coherent in person as they do online.