SF School Facts UK

Selective secondary school in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire

The Queen Elizabeth's High School, Gainsborough

Morton Terrace, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, DN21 2ST

Ofsted Good · 2023 Selective Sixth form
School website 01427612354

Ofsted

Goodas at 13 December 2023

Graded Good at its last graded inspection, on 13 December 2023.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 2 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

62.5 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

80% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

94% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

6.1 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

97% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the top 10% of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the top quarter.

Progress 8 2023/24

0.26confidence interval 0.06 to 0.47

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as above average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
C+
Average points per entry
34.2

England average 32.3

A level students
104

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1139
Places
1286
How full
89% full — 1139 of 1286 places taken
Girls / boys
606 / 533
Overall absence
5%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
16%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
11%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
6%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
0%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
2%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
97%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
95%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
2%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
61%
No sustained destination
2%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
182

After sixth form

Went to university
65%

England 50%

In education, work or training
88%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
5%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
160

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

32% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
85%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
144

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for West Lindsey 004B, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
22%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
17%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
61%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
8%

England 17%

Households with no car
26%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
41%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Community school
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Selective (entrance test)
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Headteacher
Headteacher: Richard Eastham
Local authority
Lincolnshire
Ward
Gainsborough North
Constituency
Gainsborough
URN
120655

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Castles EducationOther independent school No grade 0.6 mi
The Gainsborough AcademyAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2024 38 0.9 mi
South Axholme AcademyAcademy converter Good 2023 53.2 8.1 mi
The Elizabethan AcademyAcademy converter Good 2024 41.1 9.1 mi
Kirton AcademyAcademy converter Inadequate 2022 36.7 9.2 mi
Retford Oaks AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 40.1 9.7 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
St Albans Girls' SchoolAcademy converter No grade 58.8
Presdales SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 58.9
The Crossley Heath SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 74.5
All Saints Catholic School YorkAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 53.7
Comberton Village CollegeAcademy converter No grade 55.7
Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for GirlsAcademy converter Good 2022 79.4
Keswick SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 52.1
Upton Hall School FCJAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 65.6

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.