Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Guide

About Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School

Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School is a selective grammar school for girls in Grantham, Lincolnshire, with a sixth form.

It selects through the shared Lincolnshire Consortium 11+, which is a reasoning test only. The other consortium schools nearby are Carre’s Grammar School, Kesteven and Sleaford High School and The King’s School, Grantham, and we also cover Boston Grammar School, Boston High School, Spalding Grammar School and Spalding High School. Our guide to the grammar schools in Lincolnshire covers the county.

Key information for 2027 entry to Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School at 11 Plus (11+)

• Entrance exam: the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools 11+, provided by GL Assessment
• Papers: verbal reasoning, and non-verbal and spatial reasoning. Both must be taken
• No English paper and no maths paper
• Answers are recorded on an optical mark reading sheet
• Scoring: each paper standardised for age, equally weighted, maximum 141 each and 282 combined
• Qualifying score: a combined 220 or above
• Registration for the September 2027 round closed on Tuesday 30 June 2026
• Verbal reasoning test: Saturday 12 September 2026 (Friday 11 September at some primary schools)
• Non-verbal and spatial reasoning test: Saturday 19 September 2026 (Friday 18 September at some primary schools)
• Results: emailed at noon on Friday 9 October 2026
• Local authority application deadline: Saturday 31 October 2026. Offer day: Monday 1 March 2027
• Intake: girls
• Town: Grantham

Admissions information for 2027 entry to Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School at 11 Plus (11+)

Admission is through the shared consortium test. A child must achieve the combined qualifying score of 220 to be considered, and the school then applies its own oversubscription criteria to the children who qualify.

Because the standard is a fixed qualifying score rather than a ranking, a very high score does not buy priority over another child who also qualified. What decides places among qualified applicants is the school’s published criteria, so read those as carefully as you read the test information.

The consortium sets the qualifying standard to identify roughly the most able 25 per cent of pupils in the selective areas of Lincolnshire, and states plainly that reaching it does not by itself guarantee a place at any individual school.

How can I register my child for the 11 Plus (11+) exams at Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School?

Registration for the September 2027 round has closed. The consortium deadline was Tuesday 30 June 2026. If your child is registered, the tests themselves are still ahead.

1. Register with a consortium grammar school, not with the local authority. One registration covers the shared test.
2. Familiarisation papers for both tests are sent to Lincolnshire feeder primary schools in the summer term of Year 5. If your child is at a primary outside the county, you can buy GL Assessment’s own practice packs instead.
3. Your child sits verbal reasoning on Saturday 12 September 2026 and non-verbal and spatial reasoning on Saturday 19 September 2026. Some primary schools run the papers on the Friday before each date instead.
4. Results are emailed at noon on Friday 9 October 2026.
5. Apply for a secondary place through your local authority by Saturday 31 October 2026. Sitting the test is not an application.
6. Offers are sent on Monday 1 March 2027.

What is the 11 Plus (11+) entrance exam format for Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School?

Lincolnshire’s grammar schools select through one shared test, the Lincolnshire Consortium of
Grammar Schools 11+, provided by GL Assessment. Both papers must be taken.

• Verbal reasoning.
• Non-verbal and spatial reasoning.

There is no English paper and no maths paper. This is the most important thing to know about
the Lincolnshire 11+, and it catches out anyone working from a national revision guide. Reasoning is
the whole test.

Answers are recorded on an optical mark reading sheet, shading the chosen box, rather than
written in the booklet. That is worth practising on its own.

Each paper is standardised for age, and the two are equally weighted. The maximum standardised score
on each paper is 141, giving 282 in total. A score of 100 is average for the cohort and 110 puts a
child in roughly the top 25 per cent.

The qualifying score is a combined 220 or above, set to identify the most able quarter of
pupils in the selective areas of Lincolnshire. Note what that means in practice: the number of correct
answers needed to reach 220 is not fixed in advance. It is worked out after every paper across the
consortium has been marked, by a third party.

Qualifying is not the same as a place. The consortium is explicit that meeting the standard does not
by itself guarantee admission to any individual school.

Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School 11 Plus (11+) top tips for your child

• Do not spend time on English comprehension or maths papers. Neither is set by this test.
• Split practice between verbal reasoning and non-verbal and spatial reasoning. The two papers are equally weighted.
• Practise shading an optical mark reading sheet. Marking the wrong box loses a mark your child had earned.
• Use the consortium’s familiarisation papers, and GL Assessment practice packs if your child’s primary school cannot provide them.
• Remember there are two test days a week apart. Momentum between them matters.

How to prepare your child for the 11 Plus (11+) Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School exam

Preparation for Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School is preparation for the Lincolnshire Consortium 11+, and that means reasoning and nothing else: verbal reasoning, and non-verbal and spatial reasoning.

Two test days a week apart, in the middle of September, make the summer before Year 6 the working window. Reasoning rewards short, frequent practice far more than long sessions, and working on an optical mark reading sheet from the start removes an avoidable source of lost marks.

For Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School 11+ preparation, we recommend the following packs: