South Kesteven - Education

Education

South Kesteven gets the second best GCSE results for districts in Lincolnshire (after West Lindsey). Similar to North Kesteven and West Lindsey, the district has a mixture of selective and comprehensive education, depending on which town you go to school in. In 2010 62.3% gained five good GCSEs (West Lindsey - 68%).

Officially, Grantham and Bourne have selective schools and Market Deeping has a comprehensive school. Stamford has never had a grammar school. The eleven plus exam is sat, but places are provided at the boys' and girls' schools in the town, similar to the former direct grant system before the late-1970s. The local people were led to believe that Bourne Grammar School would provide sufficient places for high-achieving pupils when the direct-funding scheme was phased out for new entrants in 2011, but circumstances have negated this option. Further afield along the A16, the two single-sex grammar schools in Boston are under-subscribed and have had proposals to be merged in a federation. The two grammar schools in Spalding also take many pupils from Peterborough - outside the county. Much of the displeasure of Stamford's funding situation came from a handful of Labour county councillors - also most of these would have lost their seat in 2009. There are no Labour county councillors for South Kesteven, or for South Holland, North Kesteven, Boston or West Lindsey. Three out of the four current Labour county councillors (from 77 seats available) represent Lincoln.

Overall, results at GCSE in Bourne and Grantham appear to be much better than in Stamford, but it is an unequal comparison for the state sector. The situation is complicated in the south of the district because Bourne Grammar School (which gets the second best A level results for state schools in the East Midlands), can take a small proportion of pupils from Stamford and Market Deeping - essentially Bourne Grammar School is the most selective school in the district (for those not living near to Bourne), and gets the best A level results in the district. The district attracts affluent home-owners, having the highest house prices of the Lincolnshire districts, because of the (comparatively) excellent education available with plentiful transport links. However, because of the limited scope of work available, the district is more and more becoming a dormitory for people to work in Nottingham (from Grantham) or Peterborough (all four towns). Both these cities have the quality of work, but not the quality of state schools.

The low-performing Aveland School in Billingborough confuses admissions in the district as well, because it takes most of its intake from North Kesteven (villages south of Sleaford). The school is officially, but not physically, now part of St George's Academy in Sleaford.

The district has 51 primary schools and 10 state secondary schools. There are 8 independent schools.