Lincolnshire grammar schools 11 plus guide

Thinking about a grammar school in Lincolnshire for your child? This guide walks you through how the system works, key dates for entry, and how to support your child through the 11+.

In this guide, you'll find:

• How the Lincolnshire grammar school system works
• Key 11+ dates and deadlines for 2027 entry
• Which schools use the Lincolnshire Grammar Schools Entrance Test
• What your child will be tested on
• How the exam is scored and how places are allocated
• Practical ways to support your child's 11+ preparation

Lincolnshire Grammar Schools

There are 15 grammar schools in Lincolnshire. They all use the same 11+ test. This is known as the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools 11 plus.

Co-educational (mixed) grammar schools

• Bourne Grammar School
• King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth
• King Edward VI Academy, Spilsby
• Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Alford
• Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Horncastle
• Queen Elizabeth’s High School, Gainsborough
• Skegness Grammar School

Boys’ grammar schools

• Boston Grammar School
• Carre’s Grammar School
• Spalding Grammar School
• The King’s School Grantham

Girls’ grammar schools

• Boston High School for Girls
• Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School
• Kesteven and Sleaford High School
• Spalding High School

Caistor Grammar School is not a member of the Lincolnshire Consortium. The school uses its own bespoke 11 plus test and has separate admissions dates.

Dates for your diary

• Friday 7th January 2026: Lincolnshire Grammar School 11+ registration opens
• Tuesday 31st March 2026: Lincolnshire Grammar Schools 11+ registration closes
• Friday 11th or Saturday 12th September 2026: Lincolnshire Grammar Schools 11+ verbal reasoning paper
• Friday 18th or Saturday 19th September 2026: Lincolnshire Grammar Schools 11+ non-verbal reasoning paper
• Friday 9th October 2026: Lincolnshire Grammar Schools 11+ results day
• Saturday 31st October 2026: secondary school common application deadline
• Monday 1st March 2027: national school offers day

Dates can vary slightly between schools and may be subject to change.‍

What is the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools 11 plus?

The Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools 11 plus is an academic entrance test. It’s used by the 15 grammar schools in the Consortium. If you’re interested in more than one grammar school in Lincolnshire, your child will only have to take the exam once.

The exam takes place in September in Year 6. The first paper will take place on Friday 11th or Saturday 12th September 2026 and the second paper will take place on Friday 18th or Saturday 19th September 2026.‍

The test is designed to be challenging. Grammar schools use the 11+ to identify children working within the top ability range of their year group. Children performing in the top 25% are usually well suited to grammar school.

What's on the Lincolnshire 11 plus?

The Lincolnshire entrance test consists of two papers provided by GL Assessment. Most grammar schools in the UK use 11 plus papers provided by GL Assessment.

Both papers are multiple-choice. Your child will have a separate pre-printed answer sheet to mark the answer(s) they think are correct.

The two papers assess verbal reasoning and non-verbal and spatial reasoning. These subjects are not taught on the national curriculum, so your child might be unfamiliar with these types of questions. Grammar schools often use 11 plus verbal and non-verbal reasoning papers because they analyse children’s academic potential, rather than what they have already learned.

There is a short unmarked practice exercise at the start of each test to help your child understand how to answer the different types of questions.

Verbal reasoning

Verbal reasoning involves reasoning with written information, such as words, letters, numbers and symbols. Your child will need to understand how words are produced and used, and the relationships between them. They might also need to use logic to solve codes and work out the next item in a sequence.

Common types of verbal reasoning questions include:

• Vocabulary: identifying synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, odd ones out, and spotting connections
• Finding words: solving anagrams, jumbled words, jumbled sentences, and finding a missing word
• Building words: joining words, morphing words, transferring letters, and identifying missing letters
• Codes and sequences: solving codes and/or sequences using letters, numbers, and/or symbols
• Logic: statement logic, number logic, letter logic and deductions

The verbal reasoning paper lasts 50 minutes and consists of 80 questions. These are split into around 15 sections, with 5–6 questions of the same style in each section.

Non-verbal and spatial reasoning

Non-verbal and spatial reasoning involves reasoning with visual and abstract information, such as shapes, diagrams and pictures. Your child might need to look at the relationships between shapes and sequences of shapes by spotting common features from a set of shapes and applying them to a new figure. Some questions might ask them to solve codes, where they will need to match features of a shape with particular letters.

Non-verbal reasoning usually involves interpreting shapes. Common question types include pairing shapes, solving sequences, solving matrices, finding a code, spotting the odd one out, and matching to a group/pair.

Spatial reasoning usually involves manipulating shapes. Common question types include finding parts within a shape, shape logic, rotations and reflections, and following folds

This paper consists of 70 questions. These are split into five sections – three non-verbal reasoning sections, and two spatial reasoning sections – with around 14 questions in each section.

Your child will work through each section at a time following instructions from their invigilator. Each section has a time limit of around 7 minutes (after the practice questions have been completed). They will not be able to move on to the next section until they are told to do so.

How is the Lincolnshire 11 plus scored?

After the test, answer sheets are marked using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) technology.

Scores are then age-standardised, which means younger children aren’t disadvantaged.

Your child’s results will be sent to you in mid-October 2026. If they meet the qualifying standard for your target school, you can then apply for that school through your common application form (CAF).

What's the pass mark for the Lincolnshire 11 plus?

The qualifying level is a total standardised score of at least 220 on both papers for the Lincolnshire 11 plus.

Achieving a qualifying score isn’t a guarantee that your child will be allocated a place at their target school. Each grammar school also applies its own admissions criteria when allocating places.

How to apply to Lincolnshire grammar schools

If you're considering a grammar school in Lincolnshire for your child, it's a good idea to speak to your child's teacher first.

Grammar schools are academically-selective and select children working towards the top of their year group. Your child's teacher can indicate whether they think your child will be able to keep up with the pace at a grammar school.

1. Register for the Lincolnshire 11 plus

To be considered for a place, you must register your child to take the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools 11+ examination.

• Registration opens: Friday 7th January 2026
• Registration closes: Tuesday 31st March 2026

You can register your child for the test via the website of any of the participating schools.

2. Apply for school places

Test results are sent in mid-October 2026.

If your child meets the qualifying standard for a school, you can list it on your secondary school common application form, which must be submitted to your local authority by Saturday 31st October 2026.

Before listing a school, check the admissions policy to make sure your child meets all criteria.

3. National school offer day

On Monday 1st March 2027, you’ll be informed which secondary school your child has been allocated.

If your preferred school isn’t offered, your child will receive another local school place, and you’ll be given information about how to appeal.

How can I help my child prepare for the Lincolnshire 11 plus?

The Lincolnshire 11+ can feel like a big milestone, but preparation doesn’t have to be stressful.

Here are some practical ways to support your child in a calm, structured way.

Stay on track with a clear Lincolnshire 11+ revision plan

One of the hardest parts of 11+ preparation is knowing what to focus on, when, and how to make steady progress without it taking over family life.

A clear, structured plan helps your child feel less overwhelmed and more in control. It ensures they build skills in the right order, cover everything they need, and avoid last-minute cramming.

Atom’s exam plan makes this easier. Enter your child’s target schools and exam dates, and we’ll create a personalised weekly plan tailored to the topics they’ll be tested on. It shows them what to work on and when, adapts as they improve, and helps them build progress in a calm, manageable way — little and often.

That means less guesswork for you, less stress for them, and a clearer path all the way to exam day.

Build 11+ exam technique with realistic practice papers

Once your child feels secure with the main topics, paper practice tests help them feel more confident with the exam format.

Atom’s 11+ practice papers are designed to reflect real test conditions. Parents simply photograph their child’s answer sheets and upload them to Atom for instant marking.

You’ll get:

• a Standardised Age Score (SAS)
• clear insight into strengths and areas for improvement
• a comparison with other children applying to the same schools

The papers are unlimited, meaning your child can practise again and again with new questions each time.

Encourage regular reading

Strong reading skills play a big role in 11+ preparation.

Encourage your child to read every day, even for just 10–15 minutes. The key is variety. Mix fiction and non-fiction, different genres, and a range of authors. This helps them become more confident in understanding tone, purpose, and meaning across different texts.

Over time, regular reading will:

• broaden their vocabulary
• improve comprehension and inference
• build confidence in tackling unseen texts

And just as importantly, it can help them enjoy reading — not just see it as exam preparation.

Looking for inspiration? Atom’s recommended reading lists have suggestions spanning fiction and non-fiction for Years 3–6.

Celebrate progress, not just scores

When you’re supporting your child through 11+ preparation, what really matters is knowing they’re moving in the right direction — not just how they scored on a single test.

Atom’s progress tracking gives you a clear, simple picture of how your child is doing in each topic and the direction they’re moving in. You can see where they’re on track, where they might need more practice, and spot progress as it happens.

That makes it easier to give meaningful encouragement, keep motivation steady, and focus on what matters most: consistent improvement, not just one-off results.