Secondary school offers in Lincolnshire: offer day 2027
National Offer Day Monday 1 March 2027 · 53 secondary schools · first-choice odds, waiting lists and appeals
How likely is a first choice here?
For September 2026 entry, 84.7% of families living in Lincolnshire were offered their first-choice secondary school, against 83.6% across England. 278 families (3.6%) were offered none of the schools they named. Lincolnshire ranks 79 of 150 councils in England, hardest first (see every council).
25 of its 53 secondary schools had more first-choice applications than places.
The most sought-after, by first-choice applications per place offered: The Priory Academy LSST (1.9 per place), Skegness Grammar School (1.8 per place; grammar, 11+ needed), The King's School, Grantham (1.6 per place; grammar, 11+ needed), Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School (1.5 per place; grammar, 11+ needed), Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Horncastle (1.4 per place; grammar, 11+ needed).
If you didn't get your first choice
- Accept the place you were offered by the date in your offer letter. Accepting it does not affect a waiting list or an appeal, and a place that isn't accepted can be withdrawn.
- Get on the waiting lists you want. Every school must keep one until at least 31 December of the year your child starts. It is ranked by the school's admission rules, not by when you joined, so a family moving closer can go above you. Some councils add you automatically for schools you ranked higher than the one offered; your offer letter says which.
- Decide whether to appeal. You can appeal for every school that refused your child. You get at least 20 school days from the offer to lodge it, and on-time appeals must be heard within 40 school days of that deadline. The figures below show how often appeals succeed here.
- Look at schools that took lower preferences. These are the likeliest to have room now.
Schools that took children who ranked them lower
For September 2026 entry these 27 schools offered more places than they had first-choice applications, so some went to families who put them second or lower. They are the likeliest to have room after offer day; ask Lincolnshire or the school.
- Branston Community Academy Lincoln
- Caistor Yarborough Academy Market Rasen
- De Aston School Market Rasen
- Haven High Academy Boston
- King Edward VI Academy Spilsby
- Lincoln Castle Academy Lincoln
- Louth Academy Louth
- North Kesteven Academy Lincoln
- Sir William Robertson Academy, Welbourn Lincoln
- Skegness Academy Skegness
- Somercotes Academy Louth
- Spalding Academy Spalding
- St George's Academy Sleaford
- St Peter and St Paul, Catholic Voluntary Academy Lincoln
- Stamford Welland Academy Stamford
- The Barnes Wallis Academy Lincoln
- The Deepings School Peterborough
- The Gainsborough Academy Gainsborough
- The Priory City of Lincoln Academy Lincoln
- The Priory Pembroke Academy Lincoln
- The Priory Witham Academy Lincoln
- Thomas Middlecott Academy Boston
- University Academy Holbeach Spalding
- University Academy Long Sutton Spalding
- Walton Academy Grantham
- West Grantham Church of England Secondary Academy Grantham
- William Lovell Church of England Academy Boston
Every secondary school: demand for 2026 entry
Sorted by first-choice applications per place, the most contested first.
| School | Places offered | First choices per place | First choices offered |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Priory Academy LSST Lincoln |
232 | 1.9 | 47% |
| Skegness Grammar School (grammar, 11+ needed) Skegness |
71 | 1.8 | 54% |
| The King's School, Grantham (grammar, 11+ needed) Grantham |
171 | 1.6 | 61% |
| Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School (grammar, 11+ needed) Grantham |
180 | 1.5 | 67% |
| Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Horncastle (grammar, 11+ needed) Horncastle |
118 | 1.4 | 68% |
| Spalding High School (grammar, 11+ needed) Spalding |
149 | 1.4 | 70% |
| Boston High School (grammar, 11+ needed) Boston |
119 | 1.3 | 73% |
| Bourne Grammar School (grammar, 11+ needed) Bourne |
238 | 1.3 | 78% |
| Caistor Grammar School (grammar, 11+ needed) Market Rasen |
113 | 1.3 | 80% |
| Queen Elizabeth's Grammar Alford - A Selective Academy (grammar, 11+ needed) Alford |
68 | 1.3 | 71% |
| The Boston Grammar School (grammar, 11+ needed) Boston |
136 | 1.2 | 82% |
| Kesteven and Sleaford High School Selective Academy (grammar, 11+ needed) Sleaford |
124 | 1.2 | 80% |
| The Queen Elizabeth's High School, Gainsborough (grammar, 11+ needed) Gainsborough |
188 | 1.2 | 82% |
| William Farr CofE Comprehensive School Lincoln |
228 | 1.2 | 82% |
| John Spendluffe Foundation Technology College Alford |
122 | 1.1 | 79% |
| The Priory Ruskin Academy Grantham |
196 | 1.1 | 72% |
| Sir Robert Pattinson Academy Lincoln |
241 | 1.1 | 82% |
| Charles Read Academy Grantham |
49 | 1.1 | 76% |
| King Edward VI Grammar School (grammar, 11+ needed) Louth |
130 | 1.1 | 86% |
| Giles Academy Boston |
170 | 1.1 | 79% |
| Cowley Academy Spalding |
116 | 1.1 | 80% |
| Lincoln Christ's Hospital School Lincoln |
214 | 1.1 | 82% |
| Spalding Grammar School (grammar, 11+ needed) Spalding |
146 | 1.1 | 80% |
| The Banovallum School Horncastle |
118 | 1.0 | 88% |
| Bourne Academy Bourne |
248 | 1.0 | 91% |
| Caistor Yarborough Academy Market Rasen |
141 | 1.0 | 100% |
| The Barnes Wallis Academy Lincoln |
73 | 1.0 | 100% |
| Spalding Academy Spalding |
311 | 0.9 | 92% |
| The Priory City of Lincoln Academy Lincoln |
166 | 0.9 | 87% |
| St Peter and St Paul, Catholic Voluntary Academy Lincoln |
108 | 0.9 | 79% |
| Stamford Welland Academy Stamford |
125 | 0.9 | 100% |
| West Grantham Church of England Secondary Academy Grantham |
123 | 0.9 | 84% |
| University Academy Long Sutton Spalding |
131 | 0.9 | 99% |
| The Priory Pembroke Academy Lincoln |
125 | 0.9 | 92% |
| St George's Academy Sleaford |
343 | 0.9 | 100% |
| Louth Academy Louth |
188 | 0.9 | 100% |
| The Gainsborough Academy Gainsborough |
155 | 0.9 | 100% |
| Sir William Robertson Academy, Welbourn Lincoln |
185 | 0.9 | 96% |
| Carre's Grammar School (grammar, 11+ needed) Sleaford |
113 | 0.8 | 88% |
| University Academy Holbeach Spalding |
232 | 0.8 | 100% |
| The Deepings School Peterborough |
156 | 0.8 | 100% |
| Branston Community Academy Lincoln |
202 | 0.8 | 100% |
| De Aston School Market Rasen |
139 | 0.8 | 100% |
| William Lovell Church of England Academy Boston |
63 | 0.8 | 100% |
| Somercotes Academy Louth |
76 | 0.7 | 100% |
| Haven High Academy Boston |
179 | 0.7 | 100% |
| King Edward VI Academy Spilsby |
87 | 0.7 | 100% |
| The Priory Witham Academy Lincoln |
127 | 0.7 | 97% |
| Thomas Middlecott Academy Boston |
115 | 0.7 | 100% |
| Skegness Academy Skegness |
145 | 0.6 | 100% |
| Lincoln Castle Academy Lincoln |
173 | 0.6 | 100% |
| Walton Academy Grantham |
175 | 0.5 | 100% |
| North Kesteven Academy Lincoln |
140 | 0.4 | 100% |
Places offered is the number of offers made on national offer day, and first choices offered the share of families who put the school first and got it (Department for Education, September 2026 entry).
Appeals in Lincolnshire
| Year | Appeals lodged | Heard by a panel | Upheld | Share of heard appeals upheld |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 647 | 548 | 267 | 48.7% |
| 2024/25 | 745 | 627 | 242 | 38.6% |
| 2023/24 | 880 | 755 | 269 | 35.6% |
Secondary school appeals across all of Lincolnshire, from the Department for Education. Appeals are not published school by school. Across England in 2025/26, 19.5% of 27,084 secondary appeals heard were upheld. How appeal odds differ between councils.
More for Lincolnshire
- Every school in Lincolnshire, with catchment areas and Ofsted
- Starting school in Lincolnshire
- Map of schools near your home, with your chance of a place where we have the data
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