The Boston Grammar School
South End, Boston, PE21 6JY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Boys
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- BOSTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL
- Headteacher
- Mr John McHenry
- Admissions policy
- Selective
- Constituency
- Boston and Skegness
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 910
- Pupils on roll
- 924
- URN
- 139180
- Local authority
- Lincolnshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01205366444
About this school
The Boston Grammar School is a boys' secondary academy in Boston. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 924 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Boston Grammar School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 123 | 135 | 125 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.0 | 51.3 | 53.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.40 -0.65 to -0.14 | -0.43 -0.67 to -0.18 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 47% | 62.2% | 53.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 88% | 87.4% | 86.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 80% | 54.8% | 60% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.9 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How The Boston Grammar School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Lincolnshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49 | 42.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 51.3 | 41.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 53.1 | 39.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 848 |
| 2023/24 | 863 |
| 2024/25 | 874 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Boston Grammar School compares
The Boston Grammar School ranked 15th of 54 secondary schools in Lincolnshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 84% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 43% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53.1 | 5.8% | 14% | 924 | — |
| Haven High Academy | 31.7 | 11.6% | 37% | 1,229 | 0.9 miles |
| Boston High School | 58.8 | 5.9% | 12.2% | 837 | 1.1 miles |
| Thomas Middlecott Academy | 32.1 | 11% | 37.7% | 612 | 3.8 miles |
| The Giles Academy | 38.6 | 8.4% | 34.9% | 793 | 6.3 miles |
| William Lovell Church of England Academy | 29.4 | 14.5% | 51.4% | 347 | 8.1 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report28 April 2026
- 5 October 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 13.96%
- English as an additional language
- 32.2%
- Overall absence
- 5.79%
- Persistent absence
- 13.62%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Haven High Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · Boston
-
Boston High School1.1 miles
Secondary · Boston
-
Thomas Middlecott Academy3.8 miles
Secondary · Boston
-
The Giles Academy6.3 miles
Secondary · Boston
-
William Lovell Church of England Academy8.1 miles
Secondary · Boston
Other schools in Boston
The Boston Grammar School ranks 2nd of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Boston.
- Boston High School Secondary
- Haven High Academy Secondary
- The Giles Academy Secondary
- Thomas Middlecott Academy Secondary
- William Lovell Church of England Academy Secondary
- Boston Nursery School Nursery
- Boston Pioneers Free School Academy Primary
- Boston West Academy Primary
- Carlton Road Academy Primary
- Fishtoft Academy Primary
- Friskney All Saints Church of England Primary School Primary
- Frithville Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Boston Grammar School teach?
- The Boston Grammar School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Boston.
- Who is the headteacher of The Boston Grammar School?
- The headteacher of The Boston Grammar School is Mr John McHenry, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Boston Grammar School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Boston Grammar School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at The Boston Grammar School?
- The Boston Grammar School has 924 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Boston Grammar School full?
- The Boston Grammar School has capacity for 910 pupils and 924 on roll (102%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Boston Grammar School a faith school?
- No. The Boston Grammar School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Boston Grammar School a selective school?
- Yes. The Boston Grammar School is recorded as Selective in the schools register, so entry involves selection.
- Is The Boston Grammar School part of an academy trust?
- The Boston Grammar School is part of BOSTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Boston Grammar School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49 in 2022/23 and 53.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Boston Grammar School compare with other schools in Lincolnshire?
- The Boston Grammar School ranked 15th of 54 secondary schools in Lincolnshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 84% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 43% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Boston Grammar School's absence rate?
- The Boston Grammar School's overall absence rate is 5.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Boston Grammar School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Boston Grammar School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 15 July 2026.