Lift New Rickstones
Conrad Road, Witham, CM8 2SD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- LIFT SCHOOLS
- Head of Academy
- Mrs Karen Jones
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Lift Schools
- Constituency
- Witham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,100
- Pupils on roll
- 1,221
- URN
- 135651
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01376515756
About this school
Lift New Rickstones is a secondary academy in Witham. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,221 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 9 November 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 169 | 177 | 176 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.2 | 41.1 | 40.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.18 -0.39 to +0.04 | -0.43 -0.64 to -0.21 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 39% | 39% | 35.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 63% | 59.3% | 61.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 12% | 11.3% | 22.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
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 Lift New Rickstones has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Essex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44.2 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.1 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 40.6 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,065 |
| 2023/24 | 1,159 |
| 2024/25 | 1,204 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Lift New Rickstones compares
Lift New Rickstones ranked 54th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 40% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 40.6 | 9.2% | 31.3% | 1,221 | — |
| Lift Maltings | 39.9 | 12.8% | 25.8% | 787 | 1.5 miles |
| Alec Hunter Academy | 45.7 | 6.2% | 20.1% | 1,058 | 4.5 miles |
| Honywood School | 46.3 | 9.2% | 20.5% | 849 | 4.7 miles |
| Thurstable School | 41.9 | 9.2% | 19% | 932 | 4.8 miles |
| Notley High School and Braintree Sixth Form | 44.9 | 9.6% | 19.8% | 1,210 | 4.9 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 31.3%
- English as an additional language
- 4.2%
- Overall absence
- 9.21%
- Persistent absence
- 23.21%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Lift Maltings1.5 miles
Secondary · Witham
-
Alec Hunter Academy4.5 miles
Secondary · Braintree
-
Honywood School4.7 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Thurstable School4.8 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Notley High School and Braintree Sixth Form4.9 miles
Secondary · Braintree
Other schools in Witham
- Lift Maltings Secondary
- Acorn Academy Primary
- Chipping Hill Primary School Primary
- Elm Hall Primary School Primary
- Holy Family Catholic Primary School Primary
- Howbridge Church of England Junior School Primary
- Howbridge Infant School Primary
- Rivenhall Church of England Primary School Primary
- Silver End Academy Primary
- Templars Academy Primary
- White Notley Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Witham Oaks Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Lift New Rickstones teach?
- Lift New Rickstones teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Witham.
- Who is the head of academy of Lift New Rickstones?
- The head of academy of Lift New Rickstones is Mrs Karen Jones, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Lift New Rickstones last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Lift New Rickstones, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Lift New Rickstones?
- Lift New Rickstones has 1,221 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Lift New Rickstones full?
- Lift New Rickstones has capacity for 1,100 pupils and 1,221 on roll (111%), 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 Lift New Rickstones a faith school?
- No. Lift New Rickstones has no designated religious character.
- Is Lift New Rickstones a selective school?
- No. Lift New Rickstones is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Lift New Rickstones?
- Lift New Rickstones is part of LIFT SCHOOLS. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Lift New Rickstones's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.2 in 2022/23 and 40.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Lift New Rickstones rank locally?
- Lift New Rickstones ranked 54th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 40% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Lift New Rickstones's absence rate?
- Lift New Rickstones's overall absence rate is 9.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Lift New Rickstones's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Lift New Rickstones'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 1 July 2026.