<P> One of Manchester's most notable secondary schools is the Manchester Grammar School . Established in 1515, as a free grammar school next to what is now the Cathedral, it moved in 1931 to Old Hall Lane in Fallowfield, south Manchester, to accommodate the growing student body . In the post-war period, it was a direct grant grammar school (i.e. partially state funded), but it reverted to independent status in 1976 after abolition of the direct - grant system . Its previous premises are now used by Chetham's School of Music . There are three schools nearby: William Hulme's Grammar School, Withington Girls' School and Manchester High School for Girls . </P> <P> In 2010, the Manchester Local Education Authority was ranked last out of Greater Manchester's ten LEAs--and 147th out of 150 in the country LEAs--based on the percentage of pupils attaining at least five A * - C grades at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) including maths and English (38.6% compared with the national average of 50.7%). The LEA also had the highest occurrence of absences, with 11.11% of "half - day sessions missed by pupils", above the national average of 5.8% . Of the schools in the LEA with 30 or more pupils, four had 90% or more pupils achieving at least five A *--C grades at GCSE including maths and English (Manchester High School for Girls, St Bede's College, Manchester Islamic High School for Girls, and The King David High School) while three managed 25% or below (Plant Hill Arts College, North Manchester High School for Boys, Brookway High School and Sports College). </P> <P> Manchester is well known for being a city of sport . Two decorated Premier League football clubs bear the city name--Manchester United and Manchester City . Although Manchester United play its home games at Old Trafford, in the neighbouring Greater Manchester borough of Trafford, the largest club football ground in the United Kingdom . Manchester City's home ground is the City of Manchester Stadium (also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship purposes); its former ground, Maine Road was demolished in 2003 . The City of Manchester Stadium was initially built as the main athletics stadium for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and was subsequently reconfigured into a football stadium before Manchester City's arrival . Manchester has hosted domestic, continental and international football competitions at Fallowfield Stadium, Maine Road, Old Trafford and the City of Manchester Stadium . Competitions hosted in city include the FIFA World Cup (1966), UEFA European Football Championship (1996), Olympic Football (2012), UEFA Champions League Final (2003), UEFA Cup Final (2008), four FA Cup Finals (1893, 1911, 1915, 1970) and three League Cup Finals (1977, 1978, 1984). </P> <P> First class sporting facilities were built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, including the City of Manchester Stadium, the National Squash Centre and the Manchester Aquatics Centre . Manchester has competed twice to host the Olympic Games, beaten by Atlanta for 1996 and Sydney for 2000 . The National Cycling Centre includes a velodrome, BMX Arena and Mountainbike trials and is the home of British Cycling, UCI ProTeam Team Sky and Sky Track Cycling . The Manchester Velodrome was built as a part of the bid for the 2000 games and has become a catalyst for British success in cycling . The velodrome hosted the UCI Track Cycling World Championships for a record third time in 2008 . The National Indoor BMX Arena (2,000 capacity) adjacent to the velodrome opened in 2011 . The Manchester Arena hosted the FINA World Swimming Championships in 2008 . Manchester Cricket Club evolved into Lancashire County Cricket Club and play at Old Trafford Cricket Ground . Manchester also hosted the World Squash Championships in 2008, and also hosted the 2010 World Lacrosse Championship in July 2010 . Recent sporting events hosted by Manchester include the 2013 Ashes series, 2013 Rugby League World Cup and the 2015 Rugby World Cup . </P>

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