Caistor Grammar School

Caistor Grammar is a co-educational state school for ages 11 to 18 in the market town of Caistor, in the Lincolnshire Wolds, with around 680 pupils — small enough that the feel stays genuinely close-knit. The history runs deep: this is an old endowed foundation from the reign of Charles I, set up through bequests from Francis Rawlinson and William Hansard in the 1630s. And the school still tells the story of 1960, when closure was threatened and fifty-two pupils walked twenty-six miles to Lincoln to hand a petition to the council. The school was saved. That kind of place tends to know who it is.

The results speak for themselves — Caistor was named State Secondary School of the Year for the East Midlands in the Sunday Times Parent Power Guide 2025 — but what makes it inspiring rather than merely impressive is what happens beyond the timetable. The school runs over 50 weekly clubs, and more than 100 students a year take part in Duke of Edinburgh at Bronze, Silver and Gold level — a serious commitment for a school this size. The house system mixes pupils across year groups in music, sport and drama, and sixth formers can take on the Extended Project Qualification, work experience and the Performing Arts Leadership Award alongside their A-levels.

For an academically able, self-motivated child who wants to be stretched in a place where they will quickly be known, looked after and given real things to get stuck into, Caistor punches well above its weight.