Lift Clacton
Pathfields Road, Clacton on Sea, CO15 3JL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- LIFT SCHOOLS
- Head of Academy
- Mr Marc Cologne
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Lift Schools
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Clacton
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,550
- Pupils on roll
- 1,466
- URN
- 135957
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01255428131
About this school
Lift Clacton is a secondary academy in Clacton on Sea. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,466 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 242 | 263 | 247 |
| Attainment 8 score | 30.3 | 30.3 | 30.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.91 -1.09 to -0.73 | -0.83 -1.00 to -0.65 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 17% | 20.5% | 15% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 37% | 38% | 37.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 7% | 11% | 14.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.4 | 2.6 | 2.5 |
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 Clacton 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 | 30.3 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 30.3 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 30 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 18.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,415 |
| 2023/24 | 1,493 |
| 2024/25 | 1,516 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Lift Clacton compares
Lift Clacton ranked 76th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 22% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 1% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 30 | 18.4% | 57% | 1,466 | — |
| Clacton County High School | 38.6 | 9.9% | 35.5% | 1,886 | 0.8 miles |
| Colne Community School | 43 | 8.5% | 20.9% | 1,289 | 5.3 miles |
| Lift Tendring | 36.9 | 14.2% | 30.3% | 1,464 | 5.6 miles |
| Harwich and Dovercourt High School | 37.6 | 10.9% | 42.5% | 1,075 | 10.4 miles |
| Manningtree High School | 48.6 | 9% | 14.4% | 908 | 10.5 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)
- 56.95%
- English as an additional language
- 2.9%
- Overall absence
- 18.41%
- Persistent absence
- 47.85%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Clacton County High School0.8 miles
Secondary · Clacton-on-Sea
-
Colne Community School5.3 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Lift Tendring5.6 miles
Secondary · Frinton-on-Sea
-
Harwich and Dovercourt High School10.4 miles
Secondary · Harwich
-
Manningtree High School10.5 miles
Secondary · Manningtree
Common questions
- What year groups does Lift Clacton teach?
- Lift Clacton teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Clacton on Sea.
- Who is the head of academy of Lift Clacton?
- The head of academy of Lift Clacton is Mr Marc Cologne, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Lift Clacton last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Lift Clacton, 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 Clacton?
- Lift Clacton has 1,466 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Lift Clacton full?
- Lift Clacton has capacity for 1,550 pupils and 1,466 on roll (95%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Lift Clacton a faith school?
- No. Lift Clacton has no designated religious character.
- Is Lift Clacton a selective school?
- No. Lift Clacton is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Lift Clacton?
- Lift Clacton is part of LIFT SCHOOLS. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Lift Clacton have?
- The schools register lists Lift Clacton's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Lift Clacton's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 30.3 in 2022/23 and 30 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 Clacton rank locally?
- Lift Clacton ranked 76th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 22% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 1% 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 Clacton's absence rate?
- Lift Clacton's overall absence rate is 18.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Lift Clacton's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Lift Clacton'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 3 July 2026.