Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford 11+ and 16+ Admissions: Test, Catchment, Sixth Form

How do you get into Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford? Children join in Year 7 by sitting two Lincolnshire Grammar Schools' Consortium 11+ tests, one verbal and one non-verbal, in September of Year 6, and reaching a total standardised score of 220, after which the local authority allocates places. Sixth-form entry in Year 12 depends on GCSE grades.

The school is a selective academy, so reaching the qualifying score does not secure a place. Priority then follows the oversubscription criteria, which favour children living in the designated free transport area or attending its primary schools.

Entry points and places

The school admits at two planned points, Year 7 through the 11+ and Year 12 through GCSE grades, with an admission number of 20 for students joining the sixth form from other schools.

Places at other times are considered if they are available. The governors look for evidence that a pupil is in roughly the top 25% of the ability range, using Key Stage 2 results, CATS and other standardised information. Parents contact the school to arrange this.

How the 11+ assessment works

The 11+ consists of two tests, one verbal reasoning and one non-verbal, sat in September by children in their final year of primary school, in line with the Lincolnshire Grammar Schools' Consortium.

The intake is drawn from roughly the top 25% of the ability range of the age group, and the required total standardised score is 220 across both papers. The school's catchment primary schools administer the tests on its behalf. A child who cannot sit them at primary school may take them at the nearest grammar school or at the school itself. Results are emailed to parents in mid-October, or posted first class when no email address is held.

11+ tutors

Hannah

Master Tutor

11+ PreparationCommon Entrance PreparationCreative WritingCritical Thinking

I am a UK-qualified teacher with 15+ years across private and state schools in the UK and abroad, and hold a BSc from LSE and a PGCE with QTS. I teach English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning, 11+ and Common Entrance preparation. My approach is personalised, confidence-building and rigorous.

Enquire about this tutor

Sochima

Master Tutor

11+ PreparationBiologyChemistryComputer Science

I'm a qualified teacher in a London classroom every day, with a BSc in Computer Science from Brunel and a PGCE with QTS. I teach Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science to A-Level, plus 11+ preparation, through project-based work that suits SEND learners well.

Enquire about this tutor

Robert

Master Tutor

11+ PreparationBiologyChemistryEconomics

I am a qualified teacher with over twenty years' experience in the UK, Gulf and New Zealand, holding an MA in History and PGCE. I teach English, History, Geography and French from KS2 to A-Level and IB, preparing 11+/13+ candidates. My approach is student-led, focused and diagnostic.

Enquire about this tutor

See all tutors

Registration and the admissions timeline

Registration for the 11+ happens in Year 5, and a separate application for the school itself is made through the local authority once the results are known. Each step below follows from the one before it, from the registration form through the September tests to the offer made by the local authority.

• Children in Year 5 at a primary school in the designated transport area receive registration forms from their school in January and return them by the March deadline.
• Children from outside the transport area who will not sit the tests at primary school email the school to request a form, and receipt is acknowledged within seven working days.
• Both tests are sat in September of Year 6.
• Results arrive in mid-October.
• Parents apply through the local authority, naming up to three preferences; Lincolnshire residents apply online, and residents of other areas apply through their home authority.
• The local authority reviews results and preferences and makes the offer on the school's behalf, and the school is not involved in allocation.

Catchment and oversubscription criteria

Places go first to children who have reached the required score, and where demand exceeds the places available the criteria are applied in a fixed order. Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school and the required score are allocated first.

The criteria run: looked-after and previously looked-after children; children in the designated free transport area with a sibling at the school; children in that area eligible for pupil premium; other children in that area; children outside the area attending its primary schools with a sibling; other children attending those primary schools; children elsewhere with a sibling; children elsewhere eligible for pupil premium or service premium; and all remaining children.

Within a category, children are ranked by 11+ score in descending order, and equal scores are separated by straight-line distance from home to school. Residence and school attendance by mid-December count for offers on national offer day.

Where pupils join from

Most Year 7 pupils come from the designated free transport area and the primary schools within it, which the school describes as its traditional catchment area.

The primary schools named in the criteria are Alford, Huttoft, Mablethorpe, Sutton-on-Sea, Theddlethorpe, Willoughby and Withern, and the admissions page also lists St Helena's CE and St Margaret's CE among the designated transport area schools. The admission arrangements note that, historically, all those living in the area or attending a primary school within it have attained places. Before pupils join, the Head of Lower School visits them at their primary schools, and the transition programme includes Year 6 master classes and a July induction day.

Sixth-form entry

Sixth-form entry requires at least grade 5 in maths and English with at least four grades at 6 or above, and for A level study students should usually have grade 7 or above in the subjects they wish to take.

These requirements apply to the school's own Year 11 pupils and to external applicants alike, and the admission number for external students is 20. If more external students reach the grades than there are places, they are ranked by GCSE points score and then by straight-line distance, with looked-after children given preference. Applications close on the last Friday in April, early applications are given priority, and all applicants can discuss their choices with the Head of Sixth Form. An open evening for the sixth form takes place in November.

Waiting lists and appeals

Children who reach the qualifying score but are refused a place are placed automatically on a reserve list, unless a higher preference school has been offered.

The list follows the oversubscription criteria, so a later position depends on the criteria and the score, and the time spent on the list has no bearing. The local authority holds it until the end of August, after which the school keeps it until the end of December of the admitting year. Parents who are refused a place have the right of appeal to an independent panel, and the school notes that passing the test does not secure a place.

How to prepare

Preparation for the 11+ at this school centres on the two consortium papers, one verbal and one non-verbal, so practice is best aimed at those reasoning styles over the months before the September sitting.

Because registration closes in the spring of Year 5 and the tests follow in the September after Year 5 ends, the summer between Year 5 and Year 6 is the natural time to practise timed sets in both areas. Since places are ranked by score within each criteria category, it helps to know the target of 220 across both papers. Families outside the transport area should arrange testing with the school early.

Related guides

• Lincolnshire grammar schools guide
• Best grammar schools in the UK by GCSE results
• Grammar schools in England: the full directory

Preparing for the Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford 11+ with Taylor Tuition

Preparation for the Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford 11+ tends to go best when it starts early and stays steady, and most families who work with us begin between twelve and eighteen months out. Our tutors, who have prepared pupils for entry to leading independent and grammar schools including Westminster, St Paul's, Wycombe Abbey and Eton, plan the work backwards from the school's own assessment format and registration deadline.

The tutors we match to 11+ preparation are drawn from a pool in which more than half hold Qualified Teacher Status, around three in five hold a master's degree or doctorate, and which includes former heads of department, exam-board examiners and teachers from independent and boarding schools. Every tutor who works with children holds an enhanced DBS check.

Families work with us online from anywhere in the UK or abroad, and in person in central London. Fees start from £50 per 50-minute session and depend on tutor level and subject, with no registration fee and a free initial consultation to talk through your child's current level and the timeline to the 11+. Families receive progress reports after sessions and have a dedicated point of contact.

Read more about our 11+ entrance exam tutors, or send an enquiry and we will come back with tutor recommendations.