Lincolnshire 11+ Tuition 2026

Lincolnshire is home to 15 selective grammar schools — one of the largest concentrations of selective places in England outside London and Kent. Fourteen of these schools form the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools, sharing a common GL Assessment entrance examination and a combined 2,035 Year 7 places. The fifteenth, Caistor Grammar School, conducts its own separate testing process on different dates. All 15 schools use a qualifying score of 220 and select from broadly the top 25 per cent of children by academic ability.

Leading Tuition provides specialist one-to-one 11+ tuition for children preparing for any Lincolnshire grammar school. Our tutors are experienced in GL Assessment Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning — the two paper types that determine whether a child qualifies for Lincolnshire grammar school entry. We work with families from across Lincolnshire and the surrounding counties of Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, and the East Midlands. This page gives you a complete overview of the Lincolnshire 11+ system, 2026 dates, and how Leading Tuition can help.

Lincolnshire Consortium Grammar Schools: All 14 Member Schools

The 14 schools of the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools include boys-only, girls-only, and co-educational schools spread across the county. A single registration and a single pair of test sittings makes a child eligible for consideration at any consortium school listed on their Common Application Form. The consortium schools and their published admissions numbers are:

School	Location	Type	Year 7 Places
Bourne Grammar School	Bourne	Co-ed	240
Queen Elizabeth’s High School, Gainsborough	Gainsborough	Co-ed	186
The King’s School, Grantham	Grantham	Boys	174
Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School	Grantham	Girls	174
King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth	Louth	Co-ed	145
Skegness Grammar School	Skegness	Co-ed	132
Spalding Grammar School	Spalding	Boys	150
Spalding High School	Spalding	Girls	150
Boston Grammar School	Boston	Boys	120
Boston High School	Boston	Girls	120
Carre’s Grammar School	Sleaford	Boys	120
Kesteven and Sleaford High School	Sleaford	Girls	120
Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Alford	Alford	Co-ed	84
Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Horncastle	Horncastle	Co-ed	120
Total consortium places			2,035

In addition, Caistor Grammar School in Caistor, North Lincolnshire, is a co-educational selective grammar school offering 96 Year 7 places. Caistor uses its own separate testing process on different dates and is not part of the consortium. Families wishing to apply to Caistor must register separately with the school by 14 August 2026.

What Is the GL Assessment Lincolnshire 11+ Exam Format?

The Lincolnshire Consortium entrance examination is produced and marked by GL Assessment, the UK’s leading provider of selective school entrance assessments. It consists of two separate papers taken on consecutive Saturdays. This two-paper-over-two-weekends format is one of the defining features of the Lincolnshire system and differs from many other grammar school regions where all papers are sat in a single session.

Paper 1: Verbal Reasoning. Taken on Saturday 12 September 2026 at consortium grammar schools (Friday 11 September at some primary schools). Questions are multiple-choice and may be answered in any order throughout the exam, with answers recorded on a separate answer sheet. The paper does not test reading comprehension passages, extended writing, or traditional grammar. Instead it tests conceptual language skills through specific question types: identifying which words in a group do not belong with the others, completing letter and number codes, finding hidden words within strings of letters, selecting antonyms and synonyms, completing analogies, and understanding word-pair relationships. GL Assessment VR includes approximately 21 distinct question types, and children unfamiliar with these formats before the exam are at a disadvantage regardless of their general language ability.

Paper 2: Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning. Taken one week later on Saturday 19 September 2026 (Friday 18 September at some primary schools). Unlike Paper 1, this paper is strictly sectioned: the invigilator reads instructions at the start of each section, and children must complete each section in order — they cannot move ahead or return to earlier sections. Question types include: identifying the next shape in a sequence; completing a visual matrix; selecting the 2D net that folds into a given 3D shape; identifying and applying visual codes; and spotting mirror images and reflections. The sectioned format is a specific preparation challenge that requires dedicated practice alongside the content of the questions themselves.

What is not in the exam. The Lincolnshire Consortium GL Assessment does not include a mathematics paper or an English comprehension or creative writing paper. This is a critical difference from grammar school exams in many other regions of England including Kent, Essex, Berkshire, and Trafford. All preparation should be directed at VR and NVR exclusively.

Age standardisation. Both papers produce raw scores which GL Assessment converts to standardised scores that account for each child’s exact age in years and months at the time of testing, ensuring younger children in the cohort are not systematically disadvantaged. Standardisation parameters are set after all consortium tests are marked and cannot be calculated in advance.

2026 Lincolnshire 11+ Key Dates

The following dates apply to the Lincolnshire Consortium for September 2027 Year 7 entry. Caistor Grammar School has its own separate dates, listed in the second table below.

Date	Lincolnshire Consortium Event
30 June 2026	Registration deadline (late registrations cannot attend September testing)
11 September 2026	Verbal Reasoning test at some primary schools (Friday)
12 September 2026	Verbal Reasoning test at consortium grammar schools (Saturday)
18 September 2026	Non-Verbal & Spatial Reasoning at some primary schools (Friday)
19 September 2026	Non-Verbal & Spatial Reasoning at consortium grammar schools (Saturday)
9 October 2026	Results emailed to parents at 12:00 noon
31 October 2026	Common Application Form (CAF) deadline
1 March 2027	National Offer Day

Date	Caistor Grammar School (separate process)
14 August 2026	Caistor Grammar registration deadline
19 September 2026	Paper 1: Standard Verbal Reasoning
26 September 2026	Paper 2: Multiple Choice Verbal Reasoning
13 October 2026	Caistor results emailed to parents
31 October 2026	CAF deadline (same as consortium)
1 March 2027	National Offer Day

What Is the Qualifying Score for Lincolnshire Grammar Schools?

The qualifying threshold for all 15 Lincolnshire grammar schools — both the 14 consortium schools and Caistor Grammar School — is a combined standardised score of 220. For consortium schools, this is the sum of the standardised scores from Paper 1 (Verbal Reasoning) and Paper 2 (Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning). Each paper has a maximum standardised score of 141, giving a combined maximum of 282.

A score of 100 on a single paper represents the statistical average for the cohort; a score of around 110 broadly corresponds to the top 25 per cent on that paper. A combined score of 220 therefore represents consistent above-average performance across both papers — roughly equivalent to scoring 110 on each paper, though the actual score needed on each paper varies with the child’s age and the cohort composition of that year.

Achieving the qualifying score of 220 is necessary but not sufficient for a place at any particular school. Each school then allocates its available Year 7 places among qualifying applicants according to its own oversubscription criteria. Priority criteria typically include: EHCP, looked-after children, siblings, Pupil Premium, proximity to the school, and distance. For detailed information about a specific school’s oversubscription criteria, see our individual school guides for Bourne Grammar School and QEHS Gainsborough.

Caistor Grammar School: A Separate 11+ Process

Caistor Grammar School in Caistor, North Lincolnshire, is a co-educational selective grammar school with 96 Year 7 places. It operates completely independently of the Lincolnshire Consortium, with different test dates, different paper formats, and a separate registration process.

Caistor’s 11+ consists of two Verbal Reasoning papers taken on consecutive Saturdays in late September 2026: Paper 1 (Standard Verbal Reasoning) on 19 September and Paper 2 (Multiple Choice Verbal Reasoning) on 26 September. This is distinct from the consortium test, which uses one Verbal Reasoning and one Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning paper. Caistor’s qualifying score is also 220.

Caistor gives priority to qualifying pupils living within 6.5 miles of the school as the crow flies — a defined in-catchment area covering Caistor itself and the surrounding North Lincolnshire villages. Families outside this area can still qualify and receive an offer if places remain after in-catchment qualifying applicants are allocated.

The registration deadline for Caistor is 14 August 2026 — significantly earlier than the consortium deadline of 30 June 2026. (Both are before their respective test dates, but families applying to both must ensure they have registered with Caistor by 14 August and with the consortium school by 30 June.) Families applying to both a consortium school and Caistor will sit three papers on three separate Saturdays: 12 September (consortium VR), 19 September (consortium NVR and Caistor Paper 1), and 26 September (Caistor Paper 2).

How Should I Prepare My Child for the Lincolnshire 11+?

Effective preparation for the Lincolnshire 11+ focuses exclusively on Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning. Unlike many grammar school exams, there is no maths or English component — which means preparation can be tightly focused without the need to cover multiple subjects. The following principles apply to successful Lincolnshire 11+ preparation.

Start in Year 5. The most effective preparation begins in the autumn or spring term of Year 5, giving twelve to eighteen months before the September exam. This timeline allows full introduction of all GL Assessment VR and NVR question types, systematic targeting of weaknesses, and consolidation with timed full practice papers in the final months. Children who begin in Year 6 can still prepare effectively, particularly with specialist one-to-one tuition, but the compressed timeline means every session must count.

Verbal Reasoning: familiarity first, then speed. The first priority is ensuring the child has encountered all major GL Assessment VR question types before the exam. There are approximately 21 distinct types, and children who meet an unfamiliar type for the first time on test day lose time and marks even if they are capable of answering correctly. Once all types are familiar, speed and accuracy under timed conditions becomes the focus. Wide reading — fiction, non-fiction, quality journalism, and books across different genres — builds the vocabulary base that underlies most VR question types and accumulates steadily over a long preparation period.

Non-Verbal Reasoning: systematic and sectioned. NVR is typically less familiar than any other component at the start of preparation, but it responds reliably to structured practice. Two specific priorities for Lincolnshire preparation: covering all NVR question types (not just the ones the child finds easiest), and practising the strictly sectioned format of Paper 2. Children who have only worked on free-order VR practice are often surprised by the structured, sequential discipline of the NVR paper. Separate familiarisation with the sectioned format — working through sections in order, within time, without backtracking — is an important part of NVR preparation for this exam.

Timed practice papers from Year 6. From January of Year 6 at the latest, preparation should include full timed practice papers under exam-like conditions. This establishes how a child performs under time pressure (which often differs from untimed performance), builds the pacing and stamina needed for two one-hour papers on consecutive Saturdays, and provides the detailed error data needed to target remaining weaknesses in the final months. Analysing practice papers by question type — not just total score — keeps preparation targeted and productive right through to test day.

Why Choose Leading Tuition for Lincolnshire 11+ Preparation?

Leading Tuition provides specialist one-to-one tuition for children preparing for any Lincolnshire grammar school. Our approach combines genuine expertise in GL Assessment Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning with personalised preparation that targets each child’s specific needs rather than delivering a generic programme.

We work with families from across Lincolnshire and neighbouring counties. Our tutors are experienced in the specific features of the Lincolnshire 11+ format — the two-paper structure over two weekends, the strictly sectioned NVR format, the age-standardisation system, and the consortium and Caistor separate processes — and can guide families through the process clearly from registration through to results day.

We are rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot by families across the UK. Every child’s preparation begins with a diagnostic assessment to identify current levels in VR and NVR, and the programme adapts continuously as strengths build and weaknesses are addressed. Contact us via WhatsApp at wa.me/447360278449 or book a free consultation to discuss your child’s preparation.

Frequently Asked Questions About Lincolnshire 11+ Tuition