Boston High School 11+ 2026: Entrance Exam & Admissions Guide

About Boston High School

Boston High School is a fully selective girls' grammar school on Spilsby Road, Boston, PE21 9PF, educating around 816 pupils across Years 7 to 13. It opened on 19 January 1921 at Allan House on Carlton Road with just one headmistress, seven teachers and 112 girls, before moving to its current Spilsby Road site in the autumn of 1938, formally opened on 9 May 1939. The school has been a converter academy since 1 January 2013, when its earlier federation with the neighbouring Boston Grammar School (the town's selective boys' school) ended. Years 7 to 11 remain girls-only, while the Sixth Form has been co-educational since 1992.

The school has a Published Admission Number of 108 places for Year 7 entry each September, filled entirely through the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools 11+ test. It holds a Good Ofsted rating, confirmed at a short inspection on 17 July 2024, following consistent Good judgements at its March 2018 short inspection and November 2014 full inspection. For families comparing wider Lincolnshire grammar options, our longer Boston High School 11+ guide on the blog covers the school's oversubscription criteria and preparation timeline in more depth; this page focuses on the essential facts and dates you need to plan around.

Which 11+ Test Cycle Applies to My Daughter?

This is the question that trips up more Boston families than any other, and it is where several 11+ guides online genuinely mislead parents by labelling two different cohorts with the same year. Here is the distinction in plain terms. If your daughter is currently in Year 6 (the 2025–26 school year), she already sat the Lincolnshire 11+ test in September 2025 and will start Year 7 at Boston High School in September 2026 — that cycle's registration, testing and results process is complete, and offers were issued on National Offer Day, 1 March 2026. If your daughter is currently in Year 5, she moves into Year 6 in September 2026 and sits the test that same month, for entry to Year 7 in September 2027. That is the live, upcoming cycle, and it is the one most families researching Boston High School right now need to plan around.

For pupils registered at a Lincolnshire primary school, Verbal Reasoning is scheduled for Saturday 12 September 2026 and Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning for Saturday 19 September 2026. Non-Lincolnshire primary school pupils sit the equivalent papers on Friday 11 September and Friday 18 September 2026. Registration for this cycle opened in early January 2026 and closed on 31 March 2026, with results expected in early October 2026 and the Common Application Form deadline falling on 31 October 2026, ahead of National Offer Day on 1 March 2027.

Boston High School 11+ Test Format

Boston High School uses the shared Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools test rather than setting its own separate paper, meaning one registration and one sitting can be used to apply to any consortium school on a family's application form, including Carre's Grammar School in Sleaford and Spalding High School. The two papers are Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning. According to the school's own published 11+ guide, Verbal Reasoning runs for 50 minutes and covers around 85 multiple-choice questions across the full range of standard verbal reasoning question types. Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning is split into five timed sections of roughly 14 questions each, around 70 questions in total, testing shape, symmetry, position, angle, number, shading, size and spatial reasoning. Both papers are pencil-and-paper with electronic OMR marking, and each begins with a short unmarked practice section so pupils are comfortable with the format before the timed test starts.

Caistor Grammar School is the one Lincolnshire grammar school that sits outside the consortium and sets its own separate test; every other Lincolnshire grammar school, Boston High School included, shares this single Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning paper.

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Admissions Criteria and the Designated Transport Area

Boston High School does not operate a fixed catchment area. Any family in Lincolnshire, or from outside the county, can apply provided their daughter reaches the qualifying standardised score of 220. Instead, the school publishes a Designated Transport Area (DTA) of around 20 named primary schools — including Boston Pioneers Free School, Boston West Academy, Fishtoft Academy, Park Academy, St Nicholas Primary, Staniland Academy, Tower Road Academy and Wyberton Primary — where the 11+ test is administered on-site by Boston High School itself, plus a further 8 collaborating primary schools outside the DTA, including Frithville Primary, Sibsey Free Primary and Stickney Primary, where sitting arrangements are made locally. Girls from any other primary school, in Lincolnshire or elsewhere, register to sit the test at Boston High School directly.

Where more girls reach the qualifying score than there are places available, the school's published oversubscription criteria are applied to decide who is offered one of the 108 places, with priority categories such as looked-after children considered first, followed by other defined categories and finally distance from home to school as the tie-break; families should always check the school's current published admissions policy for the exact wording that applies to their application. The school notes on its own site that, historically, it has been able to accommodate all girls who reach the required standardised score, though this is not guaranteed for every future cycle and depends on the volume of applications each year.

Entry above Year 7 is also possible where a year group has capacity below its Published Admission Number of 108. In these cases the school uses the GL Assessment Cat4 test, and applicants typically need an average National Percentile Ranking around 75% or above, with neither the verbal nor non-verbal component significantly below that threshold. Families interested in in-year or Year 8+ entry should contact the school's admissions office directly, since availability changes year to year and is entirely dependent on natural movement within each year group.

Ofsted Rating and Academic Results

Boston High School holds a Good Ofsted rating, confirmed at a short inspection carried out on 17 July 2024 and published on 19 September 2024. This continues a long run of Good judgements: the school was also rated Good at its short inspection in March 2018 and at its full inspection in November 2014, when leadership and management were specifically judged Outstanding. Inspectors have consistently highlighted the school's inclusive, well-ordered culture and the strength of subject teaching across departments.

Academic outcomes are strong relative to both Lincolnshire and national averages. In the most recent published results, 76.5% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths at GCSE, against a Lincolnshire average of 41.9% and an England average of 45.4%. The school's Attainment 8 score of 58.80 also sits well above the Lincolnshire average of 45.10 and the England average of 46.10. At A-level, the average points score was 30.85, and 73% of the school's 2021 leavers progressed on to Level 4 or higher study, against a Lincolnshire and England average of 60%; 13% of leavers progressed to Russell Group universities. These figures reflect a school that, while selective at entry, continues to add significant value through Years 7 to 13.

How Leading Tuition Prepares Girls for Boston High School

Leading Tuition's specialist 11+ tuition programme supports families across Boston, Skirbeck, Fishtoft, Wyberton, Kirton and the wider Lincolnshire Consortium catchment in preparing for the September 2026 test. We begin with a diagnostic assessment spanning both Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning, identifying precisely where your daughter currently stands relative to the 220 qualifying score and building a clear, staged plan for the months ahead.

Because Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning are not part of the national curriculum, most girls benefit from structured exposure to every question type well before timed practice begins. Our tutors work through vocabulary-building and code-breaking verbal reasoning tasks alongside shape, symmetry, position and spatial reasoning practice, gradually introducing the timed conditions of the real test as September approaches. In the final weeks before the 11 and 18 September (or 12 and 19 September, for Lincolnshire school pupils) sittings, we shift toward full timed mock papers under exam conditions, building the speed and composure that the 50-minute Verbal Reasoning paper and the five-section Non-Verbal Reasoning paper both demand.

We also help families navigate the practical side of the process: registering correctly and on time with the Lincolnshire Consortium, understanding how the Designated Transport Area affects where a girl sits the test, and completing the Common Application Form accurately by the 31 October deadline. For a deeper walk-through of the admissions criteria and a month-by-month study plan, our full Boston High School 11+ guide and our 6-month 11+ countdown plan are both available on the blog. Progress is tracked after every session, with parents receiving regular updates so you always know how preparation is tracking against the qualifying score.

Key Dates for the September 2026 Test Cycle

• Registration opened: Early January 2026 (Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools, one registration covers all member schools)
• Registration closed: 31 March 2026 — late registrations are not accepted
• Verbal Reasoning test: Saturday 12 September 2026 (Lincolnshire pupils); Friday 11 September 2026 (non-Lincolnshire pupils)
• Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning test: Saturday 19 September 2026 (Lincolnshire pupils); Friday 18 September 2026 (non-Lincolnshire pupils)
• Results issued: Early October 2026, by email
• Common Application Form deadline: 31 October 2026 (submitted to your home Local Authority)
• National Offer Day: 1 March 2027

Note: this is the cycle for children currently in Year 5, applying for September 2027 Year 7 entry. Children currently in Year 6 already completed their test in September 2025, ahead of September 2026 entry — see the official Boston High School admissions pages for the cycle that matches your daughter's current year group.

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