Apply to The Boston Grammar School, in plain English.
Boston Grammar is a boys' grammar school in Boston, Lincolnshire, and one of the schools that share the Lincolnshire Consortium 11+. Your son qualifies by reaching the Consortium's common qualifying standard across the verbal and non-verbal reasoning papers — it is a pass mark, not a league table, so a higher score does not buy a better place. There is no catchment area: if more qualified boys apply than the 120 places, straight-line distance decides, so register for the test by 31 March 2026.
The three things to know first.
If you read nothing else on this page, read these. They're the bits that catch parents out.
The 11+ is a pass mark, not a ranking. Reaching it makes your son eligible — it does not order him.
The Lincolnshire Consortium 11+ is two papers — verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. The results are rank-ordered to identify approximately the top 25% of the local cohort by ability, in keeping with Lincolnshire's grammar schools. Once a boy has reached that qualifying standard he is fully eligible; scoring higher carries no extra weight. If places run short, it is distance — not score — that separates qualified boys.
There is no catchment area. Distance only matters if the school is oversubscribed by qualified boys.
Boston Grammar does not have a designated catchment, a feeder list or postcode tiers. Every qualified boy is eligible to apply, wherever he lives. The determined policy states the school has always been able to admit every child who reached the required standard, so in practice distance has not been needed — there is no published distance cutoff, and the circle on our map is indicative only.
Registering for the test and applying for the place are two separate jobs — with two separate deadlines.
Register your son for the 11+ by 31 March 2026 (when he is in Year 5) — sitting the test is not an application. You then have to name Boston Grammar on your home council's secondary application form by 31 October 2026. Miss the test registration and he cannot sit; miss the application and he cannot be offered a place, even if he qualified.
Five steps — register in spring, sit the test in autumn, apply by 31 October.
Registration for the test closes in March, six months before the papers are sat. Put the registration date in your calendar now — it is the easiest one to miss.
If too many boys qualify, these four criteria decide.
Children with an EHCP naming Boston Grammar are admitted before these criteria apply. All other qualifying boys are placed in the highest criterion that applies to them; within each criterion, closest boys rank first. Tap any criterion to read the detail.
In plain English: Boys who are currently in council care, or who were previously in care and left it through adoption, a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order (including those adopted from state care outside England), get the highest priority — provided they have reached the qualifying standard. Where they live does not matter.
What the document says: Looked After Children and Previously Looked After Children, including those children who appear to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.
In plain English: Qualified boys who are registered for the Pupil Premium — that is, who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years (not the universal infant free meals in Key Stage 1) — are ranked next, ahead of all other applicants apart from looked-after children. Within this group, the closest boys rank first.
What the document says: The child is registered for Pupil Premium, defined as those registered for free school meals at any point in the last six years (not including statutory free school meals).
In plain English: Qualified boys with a brother or sister already on roll at Boston Grammar at the time he would be admitted come next. Within this group, the closest boys rank first.
What the document says: Siblings of pupils already attending the school at the time of admittance.
In plain English: Every other qualified boy — anyone not admitted under criteria 1 to 3 — competes for the remaining places ranked by straight-line distance from home to school, closest first. This is the criterion that would decide places in an oversubscribed year. If two boys live an identical distance away and only one place is left, an independent lottery breaks the tie.
What the document says: Straight line distance as calculated electronically to three figures after the decimal point (eg 1.543 miles) by Lincolnshire County Council school admissions team from the Post Office Address Point of the home to the Post Office Address Point of the school.
No catchment — closer to school simply means a higher rank.
Boston Grammar is distance-ranked with no catchment area. Once your son reaches the qualifying standard, his position in the deciding criterion is set entirely by how far he lives from school — closest first. Score does nothing beyond the qualifying threshold, and there are no postcode tiers, feeder schools or designated catchment areas. Because the school does not publish a distance cutoff — and has historically admitted everyone who qualified — how far "close enough" reaches depends on how many qualified boys apply that year.
Distance is measured in a straight line, to three decimal places, by Lincolnshire County Council from the Post Office Address PointPost Office Address PointA fixed coordinate for each address used by Lincolnshire's admissions team. The straight-line distance runs from your home's address point to a fixed address point at the school. of your home to the address point of the school.
See the indicative area on the GrammarBound mapTwo qualified boys, no sibling link — the closer one ranks higher.
Both boys have reached the qualifying standard and neither has a sibling at the school or Pupil Premium priority. Boy A is 3.0 miles away — he ranks above Boy B at 6.5 miles. Test score above the threshold makes no difference; only distance counts.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Reserve list
If your son met the qualifying standard but was offered a lower-preference school, he is placed on Boston Grammar's reserve list. The list is held in oversubscription-criteria order — not by how long you have waited — so a closer late applicant can move above him. Because the school is rarely oversubscribed, a place often becomes available; the list runs through the coordinated round and is then kept by the school until the end of the academic year.
Appeal
You can appeal if a place is refused on non-qualification, oversubscription, or both — provided you named Boston Grammar on your application form. Appeals are heard by an independent panel arranged by the Clerk to Trustees, and the decision is binding. Appealing does not affect your position on the reserve list.
Joining Year 12 — open to boys and girls.
Boston Grammar's sixth form is co-educational: it welcomes both boys and girls from other schools alongside the school's own Year 11. The grade floor is five GCSEs at grade 5 or above, with subject-specific grades set in the sixth form prospectus.
Five GCSEs at grade 5–9 — plus the grades each subject sets.
The minimum is grades 5 to 9 in at least five GCSE subjects (or vocational equivalents). On top of that, each A-level subject needs at least grade 6 in the matching GCSE (where it was taken), and A-level Mathematics needs grade 7 in GCSE Maths. The thresholds are reviewed every year, so check the sixth form prospectus for the exact subject requirements.
Internal students transfer automatically — apply directly to the school.
Boston Grammar's Year 11 boys transfer into the sixth form if they meet the academic standard and their subject choices can be accommodated; the school also warmly welcomes applications from students at other schools, and the sixth form can hold up to 310 students. Where applications exceed places, the Year 7 oversubscription criteria apply in Year 12. Apply directly to the sixth form at Boston Grammar.
See bostongrammarschool.co.uk for the sixth form prospectus and subject entry requirements.