Secondary schools in Lincolnshire

Local authority · East Midlands

Lincolnshire has 62 secondary schools in this dataset — 57 state-funded and 5 independent. 15 are selective, admitting on an entrance test; 9 have a religious character; 43 have a sixth form.

How the area compares

The typical school here posts a three-year Progress 8 of +0.02 (average) — which is level with the national median — as an area it is neither ahead of nor behind the country. That is the middle of the 53 schools in this area with a published score.

The spread inside the area is wider than the gap between areas: from -1.17 to +0.92. Which school a child goes to matters more here than which area you move to.

For 2026 entry the typical school here drew 0.96 first preferences per place — more pressure than the national median of 0.95×. 25 of the 53 schools with published figures were named first by more families than they had places for. A high figure means popular, not good, and it is not your chance of a place — that depends on where you live.

Overall absence runs at 9.6% for the typical school here, above the national median of 8.7%. Absence is a plainer signal of whether pupils are turning up and engaged than any grade average.

The schools, ranked

Ordered on the three-year average Progress 8, which is steadier than any single year. Read the confidence interval beside each score before you read the order: it is the range the school's true figure is likely to sit in, and a wide one means a small year group rather than an unpredictable school.

Progress 8 and Attainment 8 are three-year averages (2021–22 to 2023–24). Admissions pressure is first preferences per place for 2026 entry. The Ofsted column mixes three regimes — a legacy overall grade, a 2025 report-card achievement grade, and the outcome of an ungraded inspection — which are not the same judgement; each school's own page says which it has.
SchoolProgress 895% intervalAttainment 8PressureOfsted
1The King's School, GranthamAcademy converter+0.92well above average+0.88 to +1.322023–2470.91.64×Good
2Kesteven and Grantham Girls' SchoolAcademy converter+0.92well above average+0.82 to +1.252023–2469.71.49×Outstanding
3Bourne Grammar SchoolAcademy converter+0.68well above average+0.50 to +0.872023–2469.51.26×Good
4Caistor Grammar SchoolAcademy converter+0.61well above average+0.40 to +0.962023–2471.61.26×Good
5Spalding High SchoolCommunity school+0.58well above average+0.39 to +0.872023–2465.71.36×Outstanding
6Charles Read AcademyAcademy converter+0.56well above average+0.18 to +0.982023–2444.41.12×Expected standard (achievement)
7Bourne AcademyAcademy converter+0.56well above average+0.41 to +0.762023–2450.21.02×Good (ungraded)
8Kesteven and Sleaford High School Selective AcademyAcademy converter+0.55well above average+0.43 to +0.912023–2466.51.19×
9Spalding AcademyAcademy converter+0.52well above average+0.24 to +0.592023–2445.00.95×Standards maintained (ungraded)
10William Farr CofE Comprehensive SchoolAcademy converter+0.42above average+0.25 to +0.612023–2452.21.18×Good
11Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, HorncastleAcademy converter+0.41above average+0.03 to +0.542023–2466.01.42×Good
12Spalding Grammar SchoolAcademy converter+0.34above average+0.06 to +0.542023–2461.51.05×Good
13Walton AcademyAcademy converter+0.33above average-0.38 to +0.052023–2446.40.46×Good
14The Queen Elizabeth's High School, GainsboroughCommunity school+0.28above average+0.06 to +0.472023–2464.71.18×Good
15Skegness Grammar SchoolAcademy converter+0.24above average-0.30 to +0.262023–2456.61.82×Expected standard (achievement)
16The Priory Ruskin AcademyAcademy sponsor led+0.22above average+0.04 to +0.402023–2443.31.14×Outstanding (Concerns) (ungraded)
17The Priory Academy LSSTAcademy sponsor led+0.21above average-0.02 to +0.332023–2456.31.89×Good
18Queen Elizabeth's Grammar Alford - A Selective AcademyAcademy converter+0.21above average-0.02 to +0.592023–2459.61.26×Expected standard (achievement)
19King Edward VI Grammar SchoolAcademy converter+0.21above average+0.09 to +0.562023–2462.51.12×Good
20Louth AcademyAcademy sponsor led+0.16average+0.21 to +0.642023–2442.10.88×Good
21Caistor Yarborough AcademyAcademy converter+0.13average+0.08 to +0.662023–2444.70.96×Expected standard (achievement)
22The Giles AcademyAcademy sponsor led+0.10average-0.03 to +0.432023–2441.81.11×Good
23Boston High SchoolAcademy converter+0.09average+0.11 to +0.642023–2457.71.33×Good (ungraded)
24Stamford Welland AcademyAcademy converter+0.05average-0.27 to +0.242023–2443.20.94×Expected standard (achievement)
25Somercotes AcademyAcademy sponsor led+0.04average-0.14 to +0.452023–2443.80.74×Standards maintained (ungraded)
26Sir Robert Pattinson AcademyAcademy converter+0.03average-0.21 to +0.182023–2447.31.13×Standards maintained (ungraded)
27The Banovallum SchoolAcademy converter+0.02average-0.21 to +0.282023–2443.31.03×Good (ungraded)
28Carre's Grammar SchoolAcademy converter-0.01average-0.29 to +0.262023–2458.60.84×Good
29Branston Community AcademyAcademy converter-0.02average-0.40 to -0.032023–2447.10.75×
30Sir William Robertson Academy, WelbournAcademy converter-0.02average-0.26 to +0.192023–2444.80.86×Standards maintained (ungraded)
31Cowley AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.02average-0.37 to +0.132023–2441.21.10×
32De Aston SchoolAcademy converter-0.11average-0.59 to -0.182023–2442.70.75×Good (ungraded)
33King Edward VI AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.14average-0.39 to +0.232023–2440.20.69×Good
34Lincoln UTCUniversity technical college-0.19average-0.19 to +0.372023–2445.5Standards maintained (ungraded)
35The Deepings SchoolAcademy converter-0.20average-0.48 to -0.112023–2441.40.81×
36The Barnes Wallis AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.23below average-0.86 to -0.302023–2442.30.96×Good (ungraded)
37University Academy HolbeachAcademy sponsor led-0.24below average-0.62 to -0.222023–2440.50.84×
38St George's AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.26below average-0.43 to -0.142023–2441.70.90×Good
39The Priory Pembroke AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.29below average-0.29 to +0.352023–2438.90.91×Good
40The Boston Grammar SchoolAcademy converter-0.30below average-0.67 to -0.182023–2452.41.20×Needs attention (achievement)
41Lincoln Christ's Hospital SchoolAcademy converter-0.36below average-0.50 to -0.092023–2439.31.05×Good (Concerns) (ungraded)
42West Grantham Church of England Secondary AcademyAcademy converter-0.40below average-0.73 to +0.172023–2433.10.94×Good
43The Priory Witham AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.41below average-0.79 to -0.252023–2436.10.69×Good (ungraded)
44Haven High AcademyAcademy converter-0.42below average-0.83 to -0.472023–2433.90.72×Inadequate
45John Spendluffe Foundation Technology CollegeAcademy converter-0.44below average-0.51 to +0.002023–2437.11.14×Good
46The Priory City of Lincoln AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.48below average-0.86 to -0.422023–2437.80.95×Needs attention (achievement)
47St Peter and St Paul, Catholic Voluntary AcademyAcademy converter-0.58well below average-0.86 to -0.302023–2435.40.94×Requires improvement
48University Academy Long SuttonAcademy sponsor led-0.58well below average-0.91 to -0.442023–2435.40.92×Urgent improvement (achievement)
49Skegness AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.66well below average-0.84 to -0.432023–2431.70.63×Requires improvement
50The Gainsborough AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.66well below average-1.09 to -0.532023–2434.20.88×Requires improvement
51North Kesteven AcademyAcademy converter-0.74well below average-1.19 to -0.692023–2436.60.37×Needs attention (achievement)
52Thomas Middlecott AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.89well below average-1.06 to -0.492023–2431.50.69×
53William Lovell Church of England AcademyAcademy converter-1.17well below average-1.71 to -0.962023–2428.90.75×Urgent improvement (achievement)

4 of the 52 other schools ranked here have a confidence interval that overlaps The King's School, Grantham's. On these figures they cannot be told apart from the school at the top of the table, and the order between them is not a finding. 17 schools here have an interval that includes zero (shaded above) — those cannot be told apart from an average school nationally.

Schools with no Progress 8 score

These are not bottom of the table — they are not in it. A school with no published score has not done badly; the measure was not calculated for it, and the reason differs.

Boston CollegeSixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8
Castles EducationIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Grantham CollegeSixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8
Heckington House SchoolIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Kirkstone House SchoolIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Lincoln Castle AcademyNo Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort
Lincoln CollegeSixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8
Lincoln Minster SchoolIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Stamford Endowed SchoolsIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools

Where the competition is

The most sought-after school in Lincolnshire for 2026 entry was The Priory Academy LSST at 1.89 first preferences per place — 438 families named it first for 232 places.

Pressure is not a chance of admission. A school with two applicants per place can still admit every family living near it, while a less popular school further away turns you down. Distance from the gate is usually what decides it, and no national figure can tell you that for your own address.

See Lincolnshire on the map →The same schools on a map, with every filter: results, admissions pressure, Ofsted, faith and selection — or sorted by distance from your own postcode.

Nearby areas

Admissions do not stop at an authority line. If you live near one, your realistic list of schools spans both sides of it.

What this page doesn't tell you

The results here are for 2023–24 and earlier, so they describe pupils who have already left. Nothing on this page covers sixth-form results, pastoral care, music, sport or drama, or how a school feels to walk around — which is what parents most often say settled it. The ranking is a starting point for a shortlist, not a verdict on a school.

Nor is it a prediction of a place. Admission depends on each school's criteria and, most often, on how far you live from it — and in Lincolnshire you apply for a state-funded place through the council's coordinated scheme, naming several schools in order of preference.