Boston, Lincolnshire · Lincolnshire
Boston High School
Was once on track for a full merger with Boston Grammar School — the plan fell through when funding was withdrawn, and academy conversion in 2013 made the split permanent.
Boston High and The Boston Grammar School were federated under one governing body from 2006, with a full merger reportedly planned before Building Schools for the Future funding was withdrawn — the federation ended for good when Boston High converted to academy status in January 2013, and the two schools have been fully independent ever since, sharing only the same countywide Lincolnshire Consortium test. Boston High sets no score above that shared threshold, and its own designated 'transport area' only affects test-sitting logistics, not admissions priority — distance is used purely as a last-resort tie-break.
Key facts
- Gender
- girls
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- East Midlands
- Local authority
- Lincolnshire
- Established
- 1921
- DfE URN
- 139140
- Website
- https://www.bostonhighschool.co.uk
Admissions
- Admissions authority
- The school sets its own test and criteria
- Entrance test board
- The Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools' shared 11+ test, set by GL Assessment.
- Test format
- Two age-standardised papers: Verbal Reasoning, and Non-Verbal plus Spatial Reasoning, each with a maximum standardised score of 141 (combined maximum 282). Sat on Saturdays in September of Year 6, either at the school or a partner primary.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- A combined standardised score of 220, corresponding to the top approximately 25% of the local ability range — consistent across recent entry cycles.partly verified
220 is corroborated by independent tutoring sources; the school's own admissions policy PDF couldn't be directly accessed during this research to confirm the figure at a primary source.
- Superselective?
- No
The 220 score functions as a pass/fail eligibility gate shared across the whole Lincolnshire Consortium, not a ranked score used to allocate places at this specific school. Oversubscription among qualified applicants runs through care status, Pupil Premium, siblings, and only then straight-line distance as the tie-break — a catchment/distance-based allocation model, not score-ranking. No last-place-offered score is published.
Catchment & priority criteria
No catchment governs eligibility. A 'Designated Transport Area' of roughly 16 primary schools (plus further partner primaries) exists only for test-sitting logistics — children from any primary may sit the test at the school itself. Distance is used solely as the final tie-break after care status, Pupil Premium and sibling priority.
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children
- Pupil Premium-eligible children
- Siblings at the school at time of admission
- Straight-line distance from home to school; random lottery for the final place
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 59.9 (Lincolnshire LA average -0.04, England 45.9 — attainment context) | 72.4% | +0.37 ('Above average', confidence interval +0.11 to +0.64) — this cohort predates the COVID-era gap | — | — |
| A-level (101 students): average grade D+ (24.12 points per entry) — a marked dip versus both 2023 (C, 29.37 points) and 2025 (C, 30.85 points), confirmed identically across two separate DfE pages, so a genuine year-on-year fluctuation rather than a data error. | |||||
| 2025 | 58.8 (Lincolnshire LA average 45.1, England 46.1) | 76.5% (Lincolnshire LA 41.9%, England 45.4%) | Not calculated — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally | verify with school | verify with school |
| A-level (116 students): average grade C (30.85 points per entry, Lincolnshire average 34.44, England 36.1), progress score -0.17 ('Below average', confidence interval -0.29 to -0.06, entirely below the England benchmark of -0.03) — a genuine, statistically significant decline. AAB+ with 2 facilitating subjects 12.4%. | |||||
Ofsted
- Rating
- Good.
- Date
- 16-17 July 2024
- Report
- Read the full report
Sources
- 1. DfE Get Information About Schools — URN, status, gender, LA — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/139140
- 2. Lincolnshire County Council — school directory record (PAN, oversubscription criteria) — https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/directory-record/61285/boston-high-school
- 3. Ofsted report, inspected 16-17 July 2024 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50257466
- 4. School's own history page — founded 1921 — https://www.bostonhighschool.co.uk/key-information/school-history
- 5. DfE Compare School Performance — Progress 8, 2023 and 2024 — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/139140/boston-high-school/secondary/progress-measures-for-2023-and-2024
- 6. DfE Compare School Performance — Advanced level qualifications — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/139140/boston-high-school/16-to-18/advanced-level-qualifications
Last updated 2026-09-01. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.