Boston, Lincolnshire · Lincolnshire
The Boston Grammar School
Rated 'Needs attention' on Achievement under Ofsted's new framework, and its 2023/24 Progress 8 was genuinely below average — results here run noticeably lower than most other grammar schools in this index.
Boston Grammar and Boston High School were literally one federated governing body until academy conversion split them into fully independent trusts on 1 January 2013 — today they share nothing but the same countywide Lincolnshire Consortium test. Worth stating plainly: this school's results run lower than most grammar schools in this index, and its most recent Ofsted inspection rated 'Achievement' as 'Needs attention' — one of the lower tiers in the new report-card framework, not merely an administrative artefact of the framework change. Families should weigh this alongside the school's own long history (a royal charter from 1555) rather than assume grammar-school status alone guarantees uniformly strong outcomes.
Key facts
- Gender
- boys
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- East Midlands
- Local authority
- Lincolnshire
- Established
- 1555
- DfE URN
- 139180
- Website
- https://www.bostongrammarschool.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 — confirmed directly on the consortium's own site.
- Test format
- Two multiple-choice papers only — Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning — with no English, maths or writing component, marked by OMR sheet. Sat in September of Year 6, with registration the preceding year; results issued mid-October.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- A combined standardised score of 220, set by the Lincolnshire Consortium to identify 'the most able 25%' of the age cohort. The consortium's own page states clearly that reaching 220 'does not of itself guarantee admission to any individual school.'
- Superselective?
- No
The Lincolnshire Consortium's own primary source states the 220 threshold targets the most able 25% of the cohort — a standard grammar-school selectivity band, not the narrower top 2-10% associated with genuinely superselective schools. The school's own admissions page adds that it has historically been able to accommodate all children who reached the required standard.
Catchment & priority criteria
No formally defined catchment area, confirmed directly on the school's own admissions page. Straight-line distance is used only as a tie-break among qualifying applicants.
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children meeting the qualifying standard
- Siblings of pupils already attending
- All remaining qualifying boys, ranked by straight-line distance
- Random lottery as final tie-break
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 51.3 | 52.8% | -0.43 ('Below average') — this is the most recent year Progress 8 could be calculated for this school, and it was a genuinely below-average result, not just a data gap | — | — |
| A-level: average grade C- (26.0 points per entry). | |||||
| 2025 | 53.1 | 53.6% | Not calculated — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally | verify with school | verify with school |
| EBacc entry 60.0%, EBacc average point score 4.94. A-level: average grade C- (around 27.2 points per entry, with a small discrepancy between sources), AAB+ with 2 facilitating subjects 15.10%. Both GCSE and A-level results here run lower than most other grammar schools in this index. | |||||
Ofsted
- Rating
- Under Ofsted's new report-card framework: 'Strong standard' in Attendance and Behaviour; 'Expected standard' in Curriculum and Teaching, Inclusion, Leadership and Governance, Personal Development and Wellbeing, and Post-16 Provision; 'Needs attention' in Achievement — one of the lower tiers in the new framework, a genuine area of concern rather than an administrative artefact. Safeguarding met. The previous inspection (2021) rated the school Good under the old framework.
- Date
- 28 April 2026
- 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/139180
- 2. School's own admissions page — https://www.bostongrammarschool.co.uk/admissions
- 3. Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools — Testing Arrangements — https://grammarschools.lincs.sch.uk/the-11-plus/testing-arrangements/
- 4. Ofsted report card, inspected 28 April 2026 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50305282
- 5. Ofsted report, Good, inspected 5 October 2021 (superseded) — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50171925
- 6. School's own history page — founded 1555 — https://www.bostongrammarschool.co.uk/about/history
- 7. DfE Compare School Performance — secondary results — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/139180/the-boston-grammar-school/secondary
Last updated 2026-09-01. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.