Admissions and Transition

Welcome to Matthew Moss High School

We are delighted to welcome you to Matthew Moss High School.

Our school is a different kind of school; it is different because it is absolutely focused on developing your child so that when they leave us they are ready for the world and able to create happy, successful and productive lives for themselves.

In order for this to happen, young people need three things from their schooling; knowledge, skills and a real sense of direction about their next steps.  At Matthew Moss we provide an educational experience which provides all three.

You can read more about our values on our homepage.

We are part of the Watergrove Trust which means not only does your child receive outstanding education from our school, they also benefit from the wider knowledge and opportunities that our family of schools bring.

National Offer Day – 2nd March 2026

We would like to thank all the families who expressed a preference for our school and we understand this is a significant and exciting milestone in your child’s educational journey. We are committed to providing information and support throughout this process and hope that you find this webpage useful.

Matthew Moss High School has a Pupil Admission Number of 240 each year.

Pathways

What information would you like?

Policies

Matthew Moss High School admissions policies can be found here.

Timetable for Applying to a Secondary School

If you are applying for a secondary school place, please visit the Rochdale School Admission website.

Monday, 1st September 2025The online admissions system opens for secondary school places.
Friday, 31st October 2025Closing date for applications
Ensure your secondary school application is submitted before this date. Otherwise, you will need to apply for a late application.
Friday, 12th December 2025Last date for any changes to the address in your application.
Monday, 2nd March 2026National offer day. Sign in to view your school place offer

Waiting Lists

The school will operate a waiting list for each year group. Where, in any year, the school receives more applications for places than there are places available, a waiting list will operate.
A waiting list will be held by the school for all year groups with the following exception:
In Year 7 the waiting list until the end of the first term after the beginning of the school year, will be maintained by the Local Authority on behalf of Watergrove Trust, and it will be open to any parent to ask for their child’s name to be placed on the waiting list, following an unsuccessful application.
After the first term school will manage the waiting list for Year 7.


Children’s position on all waiting lists will be determined solely in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. Where places become vacant they will be allocated to children on the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. The waiting list will be reordered in accordance with the oversubscription criteria whenever anyone is added to or leaves it.