Caistor Grammar School 11+ guide

Thinking about applying to Caistor Grammar School? Find out everything you need to know about admissions in 2025–2026 and how to prepare your child for success in the Lincolnshire 11 plus entrance exam.

Key information for Caistor Grammar School

• Address: Caistor Grammar School, Church Street, Caistor, Lincolnshire, LN7 6QJ
• Number of pupils: approx. 700
• Admissions contact: [email protected]
• Number of places in Year 7: 96
• 11+ exam: school’s own verbal reasoning tests
• Catchment area: yes

Dates for your diary

• Early March 2025: Caistor Grammar School 11+ registration opens
• Friday 15th August 2025: Caistor Grammar School 11+ registration closes
• Saturday 20th September 2025: Caistor Grammar School 11+ paper 1
• Saturday 27th September 2025: Caistor Grammar School 11+ paper 2
• Tuesday 14th October 2025: parents are informed of the outcome of the tests
• Friday 31st October 2025: secondary school common application deadline
• Monday 2nd March 2026: national school offers day

About Caistor Grammar School

Caistor Grammar School is a mixed grammar school in the market town of Caistor, Lincolnshire. It dates back to 1630 and has a reputation as one of the highest-performing schools in the East Midlands. In 2020, the Sunday Times named it 'East Midlands Secondary School of the Decade'.

Caistor Grammar School is small, with around 700 students. Despite its small size, students receive an 'enviable academic education'. The curriculum is challenging, rigorous, engaging and broad. Beyond the classroom, students can get involved in an array of extracurricular activities. Popular choices include the Duke of Edinburgh Award, musical choirs and orchestras, and a variety of sports.

How to apply to Caistor Grammar School

Caistor Grammar School is a selective state school. This means that your child will need to take the 11 plus exam to be eligible for a place in Year 7.

Registration for the 2025 entrance exam opens in early March 2025 and closes on Friday 15th August 2025. You’ll receive an email with information about the exam in early September. The 11 plus entrance exam then takes place over two dates in late September. Your child will need to attend the school to take the exam on both Saturdays.

In mid-October, you’ll be informed of the outcome of the tests. The school will let you know if your child is eligible for a place based on their exam performance. If you would then like to apply to the school, you’ll need to name it as one of your preferred schools on the secondary school common application form. This will be available on your home council website from early September and must be submitted by 31st October 2025.

Caistor Grammar is not a member of the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools. If you are considering other grammar schools in Lincolnshire, you will need to register your child for these tests separately.

Remember – passing the 11 plus doesn’t guarantee that your child will be allocated a place at your preferred school. Many grammar schools are often oversubscribed with qualified children. Schools and their admissions authorities work through admissions criteria to prioritise children for places. We’ve included the admissions criteria for Caistor Grammar School below.

What subjects are on the entrance exam?

The entrance exam for Caistor Grammar School is split into two papers, which are taken on consecutive Saturdays in September. Each paper takes one hour to complete, including an unmarked 15 minute practice test at the start.

Both papers test verbal reasoning. This is not taught on the national curriculum, so the questions might be unfamiliar to your child.

Verbal reasoning tests your child’s ability to solve problems with written information. This could be letters, symbols, words and numbers. Some of the skills it assesses include reading fluency, vocabulary, logic and attention to detail.

The first paper is a ‘standard’ written verbal reasoning paper. Your child will need to write their answers in the spaces provided. They will not need to write long answers – the answer could be a single word or a string of numbers.

The second paper is multiple-choice. Each question has around 4–5 answers which could be correct. Your child will need to indicate which answer(s) they believe are correct for each question.

How does place allocation work at Caistor Grammar School?

Your child’s marks from each verbal reasoning paper will be age-standardised. Age-standardisation is a common practice in 11 plus scoring and ensures younger children aren’t disadvantaged. A score of 100 represents the average score for the year group.

The standardised score for each paper is added together to give your child’s total score. The pass mark for Caistor Grammar School is 220 and corresponds to the county-wide standard for Lincolnshire grammar schools. This score is designed to select children working in the top 25% of their year group.

If more than 96 applying to Caistor Grammar School achieve a score of 220 or higher, the school applies oversubscription criteria. Children who have achieved this score and who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which names the school are admitted first, and the number of remaining places are reduced accordingly. Children are then prioritised for places in this order:

1. Looked after and previously looked after children
2. Children who live in Caistor Grammar School’s catchment area (see below), in order of test scores
3. Up to 12 places are reserved for children who receive pupil premium
4. Children who do not fall into the categories above, prioritised in order of test scores

Does Caistor Grammar School have a catchment area?

Caistor Grammar School does have a catchment area. This covers an area of 6.5 miles from the school address, measured in a straight line distance. Children whose home postal address falls within 6.5 miles of the school are considered to be ‘in catchment’.

The catchment area covers Caistor and stretches to Kirmington in the north, Beelsby in the east, Walesby in the south, and North Kelsey in the west.

Atom’s top tips for 11 plus preparation

The 11 plus is designed to select the most academically able children in the area. Here are our top tips to help you and your child feel confident for exam day!

Bitesize learning

It’s important to build a good knowledge base before the 11 plus. Using a ‘little and often’ approach when learning is key – our brains encode new information more effectively when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information. For children aged 10–11, child psychologists recommend regular study sessions of 20–30 minutes.

Atom Home makes learning a more enjoyable process for your child. They'll explore exciting worlds full of interactive questions, earning coins to spend in the Atom shop. Atom adapts to your child, showing them questions at just the right level of difficulty to keep them motivated.

Read widely

Verbal reasoning tests your child’s ability to analyse and interpret written information. Regular reading is a great way to help your child build these skills.

Encourage them to read books from different genres and by a diverse range of authors. Increasing the variety of your child’s reading will help them understand different styles, tones and purposes. Meanwhile, reading a little every day will help widen their vocabulary, sharpen their analytical thinking, and enhance their imagination.

Refine exam technique

When your child feels confident with the topics they’ve learnt in Year 5, they’ll be ready to put their knowledge to the test.

Practice tests can help your child develop problem-solving skills and build confidence working under test conditions. They’re also a great way to consolidate learning and highlight knowledge gaps for further improvement.

With Atom Home, you'll unlock online mock tests and printable practice papers for Caistor Grammar School. Enjoy automatic marking and progress tracking with the online tests, and help your child get familiar with the real exam experience with printable practice papers.

Celebrate progress

Setting regular, achievable goals and celebrating your child’s progress – no matter how big or small – will help keep their motivation high.

Make sure to encourage a growth mindset. This means celebrating effort, as well as achievement! When your child makes mistakes or struggles to understand a particular topic, help them understand that they’ll improve through practice. Regular praise will help your child improve their resilience when tackling new and challenging topics.