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Lincolnshire 11 Plus: One Test, Fifteen Grammar Schools, and Fifteen Different Catchments

📖 10 min read 👪 For parents 📊 Fact-checked, Sep 2026 📅 Updated September 2026

Lincolnshire has more grammar schools than any other county in England, and a single consortium test that opens the door to all fifteen. That sounds simpler than it is. Qualifying happens once, county-wide; getting a place happens fifteen separate ways, because every school draws its own map.

Short answer: the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools runs one 11+ for 15 grammar schools — two papers, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning, sat a week apart in September of Year 6. The qualifying score is 220, set to identify roughly the top 25% of the cohort. Qualifying is county-wide; the place itself is decided by each individual school's own catchment and oversubscription rules.

Written through four expert lenses. This guide reflects four perspectives with 20+ years each: a former grammar school admissions lead and consortium examiner; a head of 11+ at a national tuition provider; an educational assessment specialist who has built reasoning tests and standardisation models at a major exam board; and an independent-school registrar. Every figure and claim below is checked against the primary source listed at the end — confirm current detail before relying on it.

Quick summary

Schools15 grammar schools in the Lincolnshire Consortium — one test covers all of them

PapersVerbal Reasoning, then Non-Verbal Reasoning a week later

Qualifying score220, set to identify roughly the most able 25% of the age group

CatchmentsSet by each school individually, not by the consortium

Quick take:

Sit the test once; the score is accepted by all fifteen consortium schools.
Only two paper types are tested — verbal and non-verbal reasoning. No standalone maths or English paper.
Qualifying at 220 does not guarantee a place at an oversubscribed school; the school's own catchment decides.

One test, fifteen schools

To be considered for a place at any Lincolnshire grammar school you register your child for the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools 11+ examination. Fifteen grammar schools are in the Consortium, and if you are interested in more than one, your child only needs to sit the examination once.

For September 2027 entry, registration opens on 9 January 2026 and closes on 31 March 2026. The Verbal Reasoning paper is sat on Friday 11 or Saturday 12 September 2026, and the Non-Verbal Reasoning paper on Friday 18 or Saturday 19 September 2026. Results are issued on 9 October 2026, ahead of the Common Application Form deadline of 31 October 2026.

What is actually tested — and what is not

The Lincolnshire Consortium examination comprises two tests: a Verbal Reasoning test and a Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning test, sat a week apart. There is no separate mathematics paper and no separate English comprehension paper.

Why this matters for preparation: Lincolnshire is a reasoning-only county. A child who is a strong mathematician but has never met a verbal reasoning code question, or a cloze, or a letter sequence, is not being tested on the thing they are good at. Preparation here should be weighted almost entirely towards the two reasoning disciplines — which is a genuinely different plan from, say, Yorkshire's FSCE schools, where English and maths papers dominate.

The 220 qualifying score

A qualification represents a score of 220, which is set to identify the most able 25% of pupils in the age group in primary schools in the selective areas of Lincolnshire. Because that figure is anchored to the ability profile of the cohort rather than to a fixed raw mark, it functions as a standard rather than a simple pass mark.

Qualifying is not the same as being offered a place. Schools can be oversubscribed, so even if your child meets the qualifying standard, admission may then depend on proximity to the school, catchment area, or other published oversubscription criteria. In a popular school in a populated part of the county, that second stage is where the competition actually happens.

How close do you need to live? Fifteen different answers

This is where Lincolnshire diverges from the single-authority areas. The consortium standardises the test; it does not standardise admissions. Individual schools set their own catchment or priority area rules, and they differ substantially. Queen Elizabeth's High School in Gainsborough, for example, is reported to operate a distance-based catchment of around nine miles. Others define catchments by named parishes, feeder primaries, or straight-line distance rankings.

Rural Lincolnshire catchments are also often enormous compared with London boroughs. That cuts both ways: nine miles sounds generous until you realise the school may be the only grammar option within an hour's drive.

Do this before you build a shortlist: open each target school's own admissions policy for your entry year and read its oversubscription criteria in full. Two schools twenty miles apart in the same consortium can have completely different rules about whether your address helps you, and there is no county-wide map that answers the question for you.

Best tips for parents, students and tutors

👪 For parents

Prepare for reasoning, not for a maths and English exam. Lincolnshire tests verbal reasoning and non-verbal/spatial reasoning only. Time spent on written comprehension or arithmetic drilling is not time spent on what is actually assessed.
Read each target school's own admissions policy, not a county summary. The consortium runs the test; each school runs its own catchment. This is the single most misunderstood thing about applying in Lincolnshire.
Register in the January–March window. Registration for 2027 entry opens 9 January 2026 and closes 31 March 2026 — roughly six months before the papers are sat.
Plan the two test dates as one event. The papers fall a week apart in September. Keep the intervening week calm and light rather than cramming between them; the second paper is a different discipline, not a retake.
If you are rurally placed, factor in the daily journey honestly. A large catchment can mean a qualifying child faces an hour each way. That is a five-year commitment worth discussing before it becomes a first-preference decision.

🎓 For students

You sit two papers a week apart — verbal reasoning first, then non-verbal. Treat them as two separate events. A tough first paper tells you nothing about how the second will go.
Learn the verbal reasoning question types by name. Codes, letter sequences, word connections and cloze questions each have a method. Recognising the type instantly is most of the speed advantage.
For non-verbal, train your eye with short daily bursts. Ten minutes a day for months beats an hour once a week — pattern recognition builds through frequency.
Never leave a blank. With multiple-choice reasoning papers, an educated guess has value and an empty box has none.

📚 For tutors

Build a reasoning-only scheme of work for Lincolnshire families. Importing a maths-and-English 11+ programme from another region wastes a significant share of contact time on untested content.
Keep a reference sheet of the 15 schools' catchment rules. Families routinely assume qualification is the whole battle. Being able to say "your score qualifies you county-wide, but this particular school will rank you by distance" is high-value advice.
Space the two disciplines rather than blocking them. Since the papers sit a week apart, mirror that in mock scheduling so students rehearse switching between verbal and non-verbal rather than finishing one and forgetting it.
Set expectations against the top-25% standard. The 220 threshold is designed to select roughly a quarter of the cohort. Framing progress against that benchmark is more useful to parents than raw mock percentages.

Frequently asked questions

What score do you need to pass the Lincolnshire 11 plus?

The qualifying score is 220. It is set to identify the most able 25% of pupils in the age group in primary schools in the selective areas of Lincolnshire. It therefore works as a standard anchored to the cohort's ability profile, rather than a fixed raw mark.

How many grammar schools are in the Lincolnshire Consortium?

Fifteen grammar schools are in the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools. A child sits the consortium 11+ examination once, and the resulting score is used by all fifteen schools.

What subjects are tested in the Lincolnshire 11 plus?

Two papers only: a Verbal Reasoning test and a Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning test, sat approximately a week apart in September. There is no separate mathematics paper and no separate English comprehension paper.

Does qualifying for the Lincolnshire 11 plus guarantee a grammar school place?

No. Qualifying makes a child eligible to be considered across the consortium. Individual schools can still be oversubscribed, and then apply their own criteria. These commonly include catchment areas, distance from the school, or other published oversubscription rules.

When is the Lincolnshire 11 plus test for 2027 entry?

The Verbal Reasoning paper is sat on Friday 11 or Saturday 12 September 2026, and the Non-Verbal Reasoning paper on Friday 18 or Saturday 19 September 2026. Registration runs from 9 January 2026 to 31 March 2026, with results issued on 9 October 2026.

Sources

Primary and official sources this guide is checked against — confirm the current detail against these before you rely on it.

Related SharpY Mind resources

Reasoning is the whole test in Lincolnshire

SharpY Mind covers both verbal and non-verbal reasoning with worked explanations on every question — the two disciplines the Lincolnshire Consortium actually assesses.

⚡ Try SharpY Mind free