Education in Lincolnshire — Safekipedia Discoverer

Lincolnshire is a county in the UK with a unique approach to school choices. Unlike many other places, it still uses the eleven-plus test to decide which students can go to a grammar school. This means that in many towns, there are both grammar schools and secondary modern schools. Only a few counties, like Buckinghamshire and Kent, still use this system.

In the city of Lincoln and the areas close to it, schools are mostly non-selective. Most children go to comprehensive schools, where everyone learns together. However, families can still choose to take the eleven-plus test. If a child passes the test, they can go to a grammar school that is outside the Lincoln area. If they don’t pass, they still go to a comprehensive school. This mix makes the school system in Lincolnshire quite interesting and different from many other places. For a full list of schools, see the List of schools in Lincolnshire.

Grammar schools in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire has several well-known grammar schools that choose students based on their performance on the eleven-plus exam. Some of these schools include Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford, Caistor Grammar School, and Skegness Grammar School. These schools have long histories and are known for their strong academic programs.

Other notable grammar schools are King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth, Boston Grammar School, and The King's School, Grantham, each with unique histories and achievements. These schools continue to provide high-quality education to students in the area.

Comprehensive and secondary modern schools

Lincolnshire has many types of schools, including non-selective schools that do well. For example, The Priory is highly regarded and does as well as the selective schools. Another top school is William Farr School in Welton, which recently had the best 'A level' results in the country.

There are also some secondary modern schools that achieve good results. Lincolnshire has 63 state secondary schools and 8 private schools, plus several sixth form colleges. North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire also have their own schools, though results there are often lower, except at Franklin College in Grimsby.

Bilateral school

King Edward VI Academy is a unique bi-lateral secondary school located in Spilsby. It is one of very few schools in England and Wales with this special status. This means that students who passed the eleven-plus exam and those who did not can learn together in the same building with the same teachers, but follow different curricula. The school was formed in 1991 by combining two older schools: the King Edward VI Grammar School, which opened in 1550, and the Sir John Franklin Secondary Modern School, which opened in 1954. Today, all students study together in one building.

Sixth-form provision

Lincolnshire

All five comprehensive schools in Lincoln have sixth forms, regardless of their performance. Outside of Lincoln, many high-performing secondary modern schools do not have sixth forms. For example, Grantham opened its first sixth form in 2008, and Stamford opened one at New College Stamford in 2007. Other towns like Spilsby and Spalding also established sixth forms around this time. However, some towns such as Gainsborough, Long Sutton, Horncastle, Alford, Mablethorpe, and Caistor do not have sixth forms, and students travel to Wolds College in Louth for A levels. Additionally, Skegness Academy was established in 2006, run jointly by Grimsby Institute and Boston College.

North Lincolnshire

Few comprehensive schools in North Lincolnshire have sixth forms, with the only ones located in Brigg and Barton-upon-Humber. Scunthorpe does not have any school-based sixth forms but has the well-regarded John Leggatt College. There is also North Lindsey College, an FE college.

North East Lincolnshire

In North East Lincolnshire, few comprehensive schools have sixth forms. However, three schools do—one each in Grimsby, Cleethorpes, and New Waltham. The school in New Waltham has the best results. Franklin College serves as the sixth form for Grimsby, along with the Grimsby Institute.

2007 GCSE results

In 2007, Lincolnshire's students did well in their GCSE exams. About 50.6% of students in Lincolnshire got grades A-C in their exams, which is a bit higher than the average in England. Some schools did much better than others. For example, St George's Academy in Sleaford had some of the best results.

Here are the average scores for different areas in Lincolnshire:

West Lindsey 57.4
South Kesteven 57.3
North Kesteven 53.0
South Holland 49.0
East Lindsey 47.3
Lincoln 47.0
Boston 46.4
(North Lincolnshire Unitary Authority 40.9)
(North East Lincolnshire Unitary Authority 39.0)

2007 A-level results

In 2007, Caistor Grammar School had the best A-level results for state schools in the East Midlands. Next were Bourne Grammar School and Queen Elizabeth's High School in Gainsborough. Lincolnshire as a whole had some of the best A-level results in England, especially at grammar schools, which performed better than local independent schools. This strong performance is partly because of excellent sixth form colleges like the John Leggatt College in Scunthorpe and the Franklin College in Grimsby.

School reorganisation

Lincolnshire has seen many changes in its schools over the years. In Lincoln, two new schools called academies are replacing older schools. These are named the Priory Witham Academy and Priory City of Lincoln Academy.

Some towns have special arrangements for their schools. In Stamford, students used to attend private schools with help from the government, but this changed in recent years. Now, the town has one main school for all students. Other areas like Louth have also built new colleges to support students.

Community education

Lincolnshire offers many community education programs. These programs work with the Lincolnshire County Council and are often run by local colleges, charitable trusts like the Pelican Trust, or special groups called community interest companies. One such group is Community Learning in Partnership (CLIP), which helps young people aged 16 to 18 who are not in school, work, or training to gain new skills and find jobs.