Caistor, Lincolnshire · Lincolnshire
Caistor Grammar School
Doesn't use the shared Lincolnshire consortium test at all — it sets and administers its own separate exam, meaning a family targeting both Caistor and a consortium school must sit two different tests.
Unlike most Lincolnshire grammar schools, Caistor sits outside the county's shared consortium testing arrangement entirely — it sets and administers its own bespoke test, two Verbal-Reasoning-only papers with no non-verbal reasoning, maths or English component. Despite running its own exam, the school's qualifying score is explicitly calibrated to match the same countywide standard used elsewhere in Lincolnshire, targeting the top 25% of the ability range rather than a narrower superselective band. GIAS's own address field lists the postal town as Market Rasen — a Royal Mail sorting-office artifact, not the school's actual location, which is Caistor.
Key facts
- Gender
- co-ed
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- East Midlands
- Local authority
- Lincolnshire
- Established
- 1630
- DfE URN
- 136350
- Website
- https://www.caistorgrammar.com
Admissions
- Admissions authority
- The school sets its own test and criteria
- Entrance test board
- None external — the school sets and administers its own test in-house, unlike most other Lincolnshire grammar schools, which share a single test through the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools.
- Test format
- Two Verbal-Reasoning-only papers, sat roughly a week apart in autumn of Year 6 at the school itself: 'Standard Verbal Reasoning' and 'Multiple Choice Verbal Reasoning.' No non-verbal reasoning, maths or English component at 11+ — a genuine structural difference from the combined verbal-and-non-verbal test used by consortium schools. A separate Year 10 direct-entry route requires 75%+ in Maths and English papers plus a VR score of 110+.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- 220 or more, combined across the two Verbal Reasoning papers, confirmed for both the September 2026 and September 2027 entry cycles. The school's own policy states this figure 'corresponds to the county-wide standard required in Lincolnshire for entry to grammar schools which is designed to select the upper 25% of the ability range' — i.e. calibrated to match the standard used elsewhere in the county, despite being a separately-administered test.
- Superselective?
- No
The school's own admissions policy states directly that its 220-point threshold targets the upper 25% of the ability range — the same standard, non-elevated bar used across Lincolnshire's grammar system, not a narrower self-set band. A secondary source suggests the school ran roughly 40% oversubscribed in 2025, meaning the practical bar for out-of-catchment, non-priority places may run above 220 informally — but this doesn't change the policy's own explicit non-superselective structure.
Catchment & priority criteria
A 6.5-mile straight-line radius from the school, calculated by Lincolnshire County Council to three decimal places from wherever the child sleeps at least 5 of 7 nights during term time.
- Children with an EHCP naming the school
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children scoring 220+
- In-catchment qualifying candidates (ranked by Verbal Reasoning score if oversubscribed)
- Up to 12 places for Pupil-Premium-eligible qualifying candidates (in-catchment first, then out-of-catchment by VR score)
- All other qualifying candidates, ranked by Verbal Reasoning score
- Tie-break sequence: VR score, then mean rank position, then written-test score, then fewest mistakes, then raw marks — both admitted if exactly two remain tied, otherwise an independent lottery
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 71.1 | 94% | +0.68 ('Well above average') — this cohort's KS2 SATs were sat in May 2019, predating the COVID-era gap | — | — |
| A-level: average point score 43.8 per entry (national average 34.99), value-added score +0.21, 48.2% achieved AAB+ across their best 3 A-levels (national average 17.5%). | |||||
| 2025 | 69.6 (national average 45.9) | 89.4% (national average 45.2%) | Not calculated — confirmed directly by the school's own site: 'there was no Progress 8 measure, nationally' for this cohort, consistent with the nationwide COVID-era gap | — | — |
| A-level: average point score 39.28 per entry (national average 34.99), value-added score +0.11, AAB+ 32.6%. DfE's current format doesn't publish an A*-A/A*-B breakdown for this school. | |||||
Ofsted
- Rating
- Good, in every category: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. Not yet reinspected under Ofsted's new report-card framework.
- Date
- 24 May 2022
- 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/136350
- 2. School's own Admissions Policy, 2027 entry — https://cdn.yello.link/caistorgrammar/files/2025/12/CF-Admissions-Policy-2027-Entry.pdf
- 3. School's own Admissions Process page — https://www.caistorgrammar.com/join-us/process/
- 4. Ofsted report, inspected 24 May 2022 — https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/23/136350
- 5. School's own Academic Information page — https://www.caistorgrammar.com/our-school/academic-information/
- 6. School's own GCSE Results page — https://www.caistorgrammar.com/students/gcse-results/
- 7. School's own A-level Results page — https://www.caistorgrammar.com/sixth-form/a-level-results/
Last updated 2026-09-01. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.