Skegness Grammar School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Guide

About Skegness Grammar School

Skegness Grammar School is a co-educational state grammar school in Skegness, Lincolnshire, with around 622 pupils aged 11 to 18. The headteacher is Lorraine Walker, with Jude Hunton as executive headmaster. The Published Admission Number for Year 7 in September 2027 is 132.

Entry into Year 7 is by the Lincolnshire 11+, the two reasoning papers shared across the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools and sat in September of Year 6.

Key information for 2027 entry to Skegness Grammar School at 11 Plus (11+)

• School type: co-educational state grammar school
• Test: the Lincolnshire 11+, organised by the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools with papers from GL Assessment
• Papers: verbal reasoning, and non-verbal reasoning with spatial awareness. There is no English or maths paper
• Registration: directly with the school, opening 7 January 2026 and closing 31 March 2026 for September 2027 entry. Children are not entered automatically
• Test dates: 11 or 12 September 2026 for verbal reasoning, 18 or 19 September 2026 for non-verbal reasoning
• Results date: Friday 9 October 2026, emailed to parents at midday
• Common Application Form deadline: 31 October 2026
• National Offer Day: 1 March 2027
• Year 7 places available: 132
• Contact details: skegnessgrammar.co.uk, [email protected], 01754 610000

Admissions information for 2027 entry to Skegness Grammar School at 11 Plus (11+)

Lincolnshire publishes its qualifying score, which is unusual and useful. A child qualifies with a total standardised score of 220 or more across the two papers combined. It is worth being precise about this, because it is widely misreported: 220 is the aggregate of both papers, not a score needed on each one. The standard is set to identify roughly the top 25% of the age group in the selective parts of the county.

Skegness applies a lower threshold for some families, which is worth knowing about because none of the other Lincolnshire grammar schools publishes one. A child eligible for the Pupil Premium or Service Premium at the time of 11+ registration qualifies with a total standardised score of 210 rather than 220. If that applies to your family, register on time so the eligibility is recorded.

When the school is oversubscribed, priority runs in this order after any child with an Education, Health and Care plan naming the school: looked after and previously looked after children; children with a sibling on roll; qualifying children living in the school’s designated free-transport area; then the closest by straight-line distance; and then other children. For the final place, the higher test score wins, and if that is still tied a place is allocated at random by an independent process.

Make sure you check the school’s current admission arrangements for the full ordered list, as they are reviewed each year.

How can I register my child for the 11 Plus (11+) exams at Skegness Grammar School?

Lincolnshire does not enter children automatically. Your child will not sit the 11+ unless you register them, and you register directly with the grammar school or schools you want them tested at, not with the county council.

For September 2027 entry, registration opened on Wednesday 7 January 2026 and forms were due back to the individual grammar schools by Tuesday 31 March 2026. Registration opens in January of Year 5 and closes at the end of March each year, so if you are working towards a later cycle it is worth putting early January in the diary.

Applying for a school place is a separate step, on the Common Application Form submitted to your local authority. Both are required.

The application process is:

• Register your child with the grammar school directly, between 7 January and 31 March 2026 for September 2027 entry
• Sit Test 1, verbal reasoning, on 11 or 12 September 2026
• Sit Test 2, non-verbal reasoning and spatial awareness, on 18 or 19 September 2026
• Receive the result by email on Friday 9 October 2026
• Complete your Common Application Form, naming Skegness Grammar School, by 31 October 2026
• Receive your offer on National Offer Day, 1 March 2027

Whether your child sits on the Friday or the Saturday depends on the area and on whether their primary school is in Lincolnshire. Some children sit at their own primary school and some at a grammar school. The school will confirm this when you register.

What is the 11 Plus (11+) entrance exam format for Skegness Grammar School?

The Lincolnshire 11+ is organised by the Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools, the schools themselves rather than the county council, and the papers are commissioned from GL Assessment. There are two papers, sat a week apart.

• Test 1 – verbal reasoning
• Test 2 – non-verbal reasoning and spatial awareness

This is the thing most families get wrong when they start planning: there is no English paper and no maths paper in the Lincolnshire 11+. Reasoning is the whole test. A general 11+ bundle built around English comprehension and maths will leave your child short on the only two things actually being assessed.

Both papers are multiple choice, with answers recorded on a separate machine-read answer sheet rather than in the question booklet, so practising that transfer is worth doing. Scores are standardised for age, so a summer-born child is not judged against the raw marks of older classmates. For more on this provider, see our GL Assessment guide.

A rough guide to topics covered:

• Verbal reasoning – letter and number sequences, codes, word relationships, synonyms and antonyms, hidden words, and logic puzzles. Vocabulary underpins most of it, so wide reading still matters a great deal even though there is no comprehension paper
• Non-verbal reasoning and spatial awareness – sequences, rotations, reflections, analogies, nets and odd-one-out questions with shapes

Familiarisation papers are sent to Lincolnshire feeder primary schools ahead of the tests. Families whose children attend a primary outside Lincolnshire will not receive them that way, so it is worth asking the grammar school directly what is available.

Skegness Grammar School 11 Plus (11+) top tips for your child

• Put your practice where the marks are. There is no English or maths paper in the Lincolnshire 11+, so verbal and non-verbal reasoning deserve nearly all of your preparation time.
• Keep reading widely anyway. Verbal reasoning is built on vocabulary, so the more words you know, the faster those questions become.
• Learn the common non-verbal reasoning patterns. Rotations, reflections, nets and sequences come up again and again, and they get much quicker with practice.
• Practise marking answers on a separate answer sheet. The papers are marked by machine, so a clear mark in the right box matters as much as knowing the answer!
• Remember the two tests are a week apart. If the first one felt hard, there is a whole week to reset before the second, and both scores are added together.
• Work steadily rather than racing. Both papers reward accuracy, and a careless mark costs exactly as much as a question you could not do.
• Don’t panic about one difficult question! Move on, keep a steady pace, and come back to anything you skipped if there is time left.

How to prepare your child for the 11 Plus (11+) Skegness Grammar School exam

Preparing for Skegness Grammar School means preparing for two reasoning papers and nothing else: verbal reasoning, and non-verbal reasoning with spatial awareness. That makes Lincolnshire simpler to plan for than most counties, but it also means the standard 11+ starter bundle of English and maths papers is the wrong buy here.

Verbal reasoning leans heavily on vocabulary, so wide reading remains one of the best things your child can do, even without a comprehension paper to sit. Non-verbal reasoning improves quickly with pattern practice, and it is often the paper where a child gains the most ground in a few months.

The most useful way to prepare is to use practice tests that match this format, so your child gets used to multiple-choice reasoning questions, to transferring answers accurately onto a separate answer sheet, and to keeping to time. That familiarity is what stops the format itself being a surprise on the day.

The same two papers are sat for Boston Grammar School, King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth, Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Horncastle and Spalding Grammar School, so one set of material covers every Lincolnshire grammar school you apply to.

For Skegness Grammar School 11+ preparation, we recommend the following packs: