Sleaford, Lincolnshire · Lincolnshire
Kesteven and Sleaford High School Selective Academy
Wasn't founded as a deliberate boys/girls pairing with Carre's Grammar School — it started independently in 1902 after a plan to make Carre's co-ed fell through.
Despite sharing a town, a joint sixth form, and until recently a multi-academy trust with Carre's Grammar School, Kesteven and Sleaford High wasn't founded as its designed counterpart — it began independently in 1902 as a private venture after Carre's own governors dropped a proposal to admit girls. The two schools remain linked today through the 1983 Sleaford Joint Sixth Form (which is why this girls' school's sixth form is co-educational), but each sits the same countywide Lincolnshire Consortium test entirely independently, with no joint admissions process. A live governance change was caught mid-research: the shared trust renamed itself from the Robert Carre Trust to the Community Inclusive Trust sometime in the 2025/26 academic year, visible in a wording change between two consecutive versions of the school's own admissions policy.
Key facts
- Gender
- girls
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- East Midlands
- Local authority
- Lincolnshire
- Established
- 1902
- DfE URN
- 137667
- Website
- https://www.kshs.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 papers — a Verbal Reasoning test and a Non-Verbal Reasoning test, multiple-choice, marked by OMR sheet — sat in September of Year 6. Candidates applying in Years 8-11 instead sit GL Assessment Cognitive Ability Tests, requiring a standardised score of 112.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- A combined standardised score of 220 for Year 7 entry — reported consistently across independent sources as the Lincolnshire Consortium's standard threshold, though it wasn't confirmed directly on a Lincolnshire Consortium or council primary page during this research (both were inaccessible). The school's own policy refers only to 'the required standard' without restating the number.partly verified
220 is reported consistently by independent sources, but couldn't be confirmed directly against a Lincolnshire Consortium or council primary page, which were inaccessible during this research.
- Superselective?
- No
Confirmed from the school's own admissions policy: selection is pass/fail against a threshold aimed at the top 25% of the ability range nationally — a broad quartile, not a narrow superselective band. Once a child qualifies, places go by category — care status, Pupil Premium, siblings at a trust secondary school, then distance — never by ranking test scores among qualifiers.
Catchment & priority criteria
No defined catchment area. Straight-line distance is used only as an oversubscription tie-break, not as an eligibility boundary — applicants may apply from anywhere.
- Children with an EHCP naming the school
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children
- Children registered for Pupil Premium
- Siblings at a secondary school within the same trust (wording changed from 'Robert Carre Trust' to 'Community Inclusive Trust' between the 2026-27 and 2027-28 policies, reflecting a trust rename)
- Remaining places by straight-line distance; independent lottery for the final place
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 65.3 | 91.5% (grade 4+ 98.6%) | +0.67 ('Well above average', confidence interval +0.43 to +0.91; Lincolnshire LA average +0.02, England -0.03) — this cohort predates the COVID-era gap | — | — |
| A-level (51 students): average grade B+ (43.4 points per entry). | |||||
| 2025 | 61.8 | 85.1% | Not calculated — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally | verify with school | verify with school |
| A-level (71 students, a notably larger cohort than 2024's 51): average grade B- (37.8 points per entry), progress score -0.01 ('Average'), AAB+ with 2 facilitating subjects 20.3%. Both GCSE and A-level results dipped year-on-year, though both years remain well above local and national averages. EBacc entry 92.1%. | |||||
Ofsted
- Rating
- Outstanding, in every category: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. No overall single-word grade was issued, consistent with Ofsted's September 2024 policy change. The previous inspection rated the school Good.
- Date
- 19-20 November 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/137667
- 2. School's own Admissions Policy 2027-2028 — https://www.kshs.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=1033&type=pdf
- 3. School's own Admissions Policy 2026-2027 (for comparison) — https://www.kshs.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=894&type=pdf
- 4. Ofsted report, inspected 19-20 November 2024 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50264936
- 5. DfE Compare School Performance — Progress 8, 2023 and 2024 — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/137667/kesteven-and-sleaford-high-school-selective-academy/secondary/progress-measures-for-2023-and-2024
- 6. School's own GCSE Results page — https://www.kshs.uk/gcse-results
- 7. School's own Sixth Form Results page — https://www.kshs.uk/sixth-form-results
Last updated 2026-09-01. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.