Apply to Kesteven and Sleaford High School, in plain English.
Kesteven and Sleaford High School (KSHS) is a girls' grammar school in Sleaford, Lincolnshire — the sister school to Carre's Grammar — and one of the schools that share the Lincolnshire Consortium 11+. Your daughter qualifies by reaching a fixed standardised-score standard of 220 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: when more qualified girls apply than the 124 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 of 220, not a ranking. Reaching it makes your daughter eligible — it does not order her.
The Lincolnshire Consortium 11+ is two papers — verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning — set and standardised by GL Assessment. The standardised scores are added together, and a child needs an aggregate of 220 (intended to identify the top 25% of children by ability) to reach the qualifying standard. Once a girl has reached 220 she is fully qualified; a score of 250 carries no more weight than 221. If places run short, it is distance — not score — that separates qualified girls.
There is no catchment area. Distance only matters if the school is oversubscribed by qualified girls.
KSHS does not have a designated catchment, a feeder list, or postcode tiers. Every qualified girl across Lincolnshire (and beyond) is eligible to apply. If more than 124 qualified girls list the school, the remaining places — after looked-after children, Pupil Premium and siblings — go to those living closest in a straight line. There is no published distance cutoff; the furthest distance offered changes every year, so 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 daughter for the 11+ by 31 March 2026 (when she is in Year 5) — sitting the test is not an application. You then have to name KSHS on your home council's secondary application form by 31 October 2026. Miss the test registration and she cannot sit; miss the application and she cannot be offered a place, even if she passed.
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 girls qualify, these four criteria decide.
Children with an EHCP naming KSHS are admitted before these criteria apply. All other qualifying girls are placed in the highest criterion that applies to them; within each criterion, closest girls rank first. Tap any criterion to read the detail.
In plain English: Girls 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 girls who have been registered for Free School Meals at any point in the previous six years (the "Ever 6" Pupil Premium group, not counting Key Stage 1 universal infant meals) come next. The school writes to all parents of girls who pass the 11+ to ask whether their child qualifies and to verify it. Within this group, the closest girls 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 previous six years (not including Key Stage 1 statutory Free School Meals).
In plain English: Qualified girls who, at the time of admission, have a brother or sister at one of the secondary schools in the Community Inclusive Trust (which includes Carre's Grammar School next door) come next. A sibling is a full, half or step-brother or sister — or another child living in the same household for whom an adult there has parental responsibility. Within this group, the closest girls rank first.
What the document says: Students who, at the time of admission, have siblings at one of the secondary schools within the Community Inclusive Trust.
In plain English: Every other qualified girl — 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 decides most places. If two girls live an identical distance away and only one place is left, an independent lottery breaks the tie.
What the document says: Straight line distance from the home to the Academy, priority will be given to the child living closest to the Academy. [Tie breaker] If the distance criterion is not sufficient to distinguish between two or more applicants for the last remaining place, then a lottery will be drawn by an independent person, not employed by the school or working in the Children's Services Directorate at the local authority.
No catchment — closer to school simply means a higher rank.
KSHS is distance-ranked with no catchment area. Once your daughter reaches the qualifying standard of 220, her position in the deciding criterion is set entirely by how far she lives from school — closest first. Score does nothing beyond the 220 threshold, and there are no postcode tiers, feeder schools or designated areas. Because the school does not publish a distance cutoff, how far "close enough" reaches depends on how many qualified girls apply that year.
Distance is measured in a straight line, to three decimal places, from your home's address point in the OS AddressBaseOS AddressBaseThe Ordnance Survey address database. Lincolnshire County Council measures a straight line between the Post Office Address Point of your home and a fixed point at the school. database to a fixed point at the school.
See the indicative area on the GrammarBound mapTwo qualified girls, no sibling link — the closer one ranks higher.
Both girls have reached the qualifying standard of 220 and neither has a sibling at a Trust school. Girl A is 3.0 miles away — she ranks above Girl B at 6.5 miles. Test score above 220 makes no difference; only distance counts.
You have two routes, and you can use both.
Reserve list
If your daughter met the qualifying standard but was offered a lower-preference school, she is placed on the KSHS reserve list automatically. The list is held in oversubscription-criteria order — not by how long you have waited — so a closer late applicant can move above her. The list runs until the end of the coordinated round in August, then is kept by the school to the end of the autumn term.
Appeal
You can appeal if a place is refused on non-qualification, oversubscription, or both — provided you named KSHS on your application form. Appeals are organised independently of the school, and the panel's decision is binding. Appealing does not affect your position on the reserve list. Note that overturning a non-qualification refusal needs exceptional circumstances.
Joining Year 12 — the co-educational Sleaford Joint Sixth Form. Around 40 external places.
The KSHS sixth form is run jointly with Carre's Grammar School as the mixed Sleaford Joint Sixth Form: it admits both boys and girls from other schools. The grade floor is a pass (grade 4) in Maths and English, with higher grades needed in the specific subjects your child wants to study.
Five GCSEs at grade 5+, grade 4 in Maths and English — and grade 6 in chosen A-level subjects.
The A-level minimum is five GCSEs at grade 5 or above, including at least grade 4 in Mathematics and grade 4 in English Language or Literature. On top of that, most A-levels need at least grade 6 in the related GCSE subject (some, such as Further Maths, need grade 7+ in GCSE Maths). Check the sixth form prospectus for the exact subject thresholds.
Internal students continue automatically — apply directly for external places.
The external Year 12 admission number is 40, not counting students continuing from the school's own Year 11. Where there are more external applicants than places, students are admitted without bias up to the admission number, with a reserve list held where a course is oversubscribed. Apply directly to the Sleaford Joint Sixth Form.
See kshs.uk for the sixth form prospectus and subject entry requirements.