The district also contains the town of North Hykeham, which adjoins the neighbouring city of Lincoln, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.

[5] The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

[16] The district is characterised by small settlements and large areas of arable farmland.

[17] The two towns are Sleaford and North Hykeham, and the larger villages include Cranwell, Metheringham, Navenby, Ruskington and Waddington.

The former RAF Swinderby, which can be found adjacent to the A46 near the western edge of the district, closed in 1995.

The predominantly rural nature of the district has encouraged people to move to the area to take advantage of its quality of life, low crime rates, relatively low house prices, good-quality education and local heritage.

Sleaford forms an urban area with the nearby villages of Greylees, Holdingham, Leasingham and Quarrington, North Hykeham and Waddington form part of an urban area with the city of Lincoln.

The district part funds The National Centre for Craft & Design, in the Hub building in Sleaford.

Adjacent to it are annex buildings of Grantham College, funded by the East Midlands LSC.