Lincolnshire is one of the few English counties still operating a system close to the historic 11+: the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools runs a common entrance test for 14 grammar schools across the county.
Schools using the test
Among others: Boston Grammar School, Boston High School, Bourne Grammar, King Edward VI Grammar (Spilsby), Queen Elizabeth's Grammar (Horncastle), Skegness Grammar, and the two big Lincoln schools — Lincoln Christ's Hospital and King's School Grantham (where Margaret Thatcher studied).
Test format
The Lincolnshire 11+ is a single morning of GL Assessment papers:
- Verbal Reasoning (50 min, ~60 questions)
- Non-Verbal Reasoning (50 min, ~60 questions)
Notably, there's no English or maths paper — Lincolnshire relies on reasoning alone, which means many children find the test feels different from what their school resources prepare them for.
What this means for preparation
- Verbal reasoning vocabulary needs to be wide — Lincolnshire's word-logic questions reward unusual word knowledge.
- NVR practice should cover all 21 standard pattern types.
- The lack of English and maths papers does not mean these subjects can be ignored — strong English vocabulary feeds verbal-reasoning success.
Pass mark
Children need a combined standardised score of around 220+ to qualify. The top Lincoln schools (Queen Elizabeth's Horncastle, KEVI Grammar Spilsby) typically require 235+.
Quest Arena's reasoning worksheet library includes 1,500+ targeted VR and NVR worksheets.