Horncastle, Lincolnshire · Lincolnshire
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Horncastle
Has no catchment at all for eligibility — any child in Lincolnshire can sit the test — but a 'free transport area' quietly decides who wins when the school is oversubscribed.
Horncastle's own admissions policy confirms the school admits from the top 25% of the ability range — the same threshold used identically across all 15 schools in the Lincolnshire Consortium, not an elevated bar of its own. There's no catchment area governing eligibility to sit the test or apply, but a defined 'free transport area' functions as a real oversubscription tie-break, prioritising children who live within it ahead of everyone else once both groups have qualified. Founded under an Elizabeth I charter in 1571, though the school's own site notes a school existed on the same site as early as 1327.
Key facts
- Gender
- co-ed
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- East Midlands
- Local authority
- Lincolnshire
- Established
- 1571
- DfE URN
- 138665
- Website
- https://www.qegs.lincs.sch.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 multiple-choice tests, marked by OMR sheet: a Verbal Reasoning test and a Non-Verbal Reasoning test. No English, maths or writing component. Sat in the autumn term, either at the child's own primary school or at a grammar school.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- A combined standardised score of 220, set by the Lincolnshire Consortium to represent the top 25% of the ability range in the selective areas of Lincolnshire — the same threshold used identically by all 15 consortium schools, not restated as a specific number in the school's own policy.partly verified
The 220/top-25% figure is stated as a standing rule on the Lincolnshire Consortium's own page, but carries no explicit cycle date stamp, and the school's own policy document only says 'top 25%' without restating the number itself.
- Superselective?
- No
The school's own admissions policy states directly that it admits from 'the top 25% of the ability range' — matching the standard consortium-wide threshold used by every Lincolnshire Consortium grammar school, not a materially higher bar of its own. The actual realised cutoff in an oversubscribed year (the score of the last pupil admitted) isn't published, so the practical selectivity in recent cycles couldn't be independently confirmed, but the declared policy is unambiguously the standard, not an elevated one.
Catchment & priority criteria
No catchment governs eligibility — any qualifying child in Lincolnshire may apply regardless of address. A defined 'free transport area' (covering Horncastle and the surrounding area including Wragby, Bardney and Woodhall Spa to the west, the Lincolnshire Wolds to the north and east, almost to Boston in the south, and RAF Coningsby) is used only as an oversubscription tie-break, ranked ahead of all other areas.partly verified
The free-transport area is described qualitatively by the school's own site; the precise boundary is only published as a static map image, not extractable as exact geographic text.
- Children with an EHCP naming the school who reached the qualifying standard
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children who reached the qualifying standard
- Qualifying children eligible for Pupil Premium or Service Premium
- Qualifying children within the free-transport area, ranked by test score
- Qualifying children from all other areas, ranked by test score
- Tie-break: straight-line distance calculated to 3 decimal places; independent lottery if still tied
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 62.1 | 81.5% (grade 4+ 96.8%) | +0.28 ('Above average', confidence interval +0.03 to +0.54) — this cohort's KS2 baseline (summer 2019) predates the COVID-era gap | — | — |
| A-level: average grade B- (37.76 points per entry), value-added progress score -0.01 ('Average'). For trend context, 2023 was grade B (39.15 points), Progress 8 +0.49 ('Above average'). | |||||
| 2025 | 66.2 | 89.4% (grade 4+ 98.4%) | Not calculated — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally | verify with school | verify with school |
| A-level (96 students): average grade B- (38.26 points per entry, Lincolnshire average C+/34.44, England B-/36.1), value-added progress score -0.08 ('Average', confidence interval spans zero), AAB+ with 2 facilitating subjects 33.3% (Lincolnshire and England both 17.5%). EBacc entry 89.4%. DfE's current tables don'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.
- Date
- 4-5 June 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/138665
- 2. School's own Y7-11 Admissions Policy, September 2027 entry — https://horncastletrust.greenhousecms.co.uk/docs/Policies/QE/Admissions_Policy_Y7-11_-_2027.pdf
- 3. Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools — 11+ testing arrangements — https://grammarschools.lincs.sch.uk/the-11-plus/testing-arrangements/
- 4. Ofsted report, inspected 4-5 June 2024 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50251306
- 5. School's own About/History page — https://www.qegs.lincs.sch.uk/About/
- 6. DfE Compare School Performance — Progress 8, 2023 and 2024 — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/138665/queen-elizabeth-s-grammar-school%2c-horncastle/secondary/progress-measures-for-2023-and-2024
- 7. DfE Compare School Performance — Advanced level qualifications, 2025 — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/138665/queen-elizabeth-s-grammar-school%2c-horncastle/16-to-18/advanced-level-qualifications
Last updated 2026-09-01. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.