Lift St Helen's
St Helen's Way, Monk Bretton, Barnsley, S71 2PS
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- LIFT SCHOOLS
- Headteacher
- Miss Victoria Gorton
- Religious ethos
- None
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Lift Schools
- Constituency
- Barnsley North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 280
- Pupils on roll
- 183
- URN
- 139006
- Local authority
- Barnsley
- Telephone
- 01226295210
About this school
Lift St Helen's is a primary academy in Barnsley. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 183 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
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 35 | 34 | 29 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 34% | 53% | 62% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 6% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 46% | 65% | 72% |
| Expected standard in maths | 49% | 71% | 76% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 34% | 35% | 69% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 99.0 | 101.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 98.0 | 101.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.30 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Lift St Helen's has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Barnsley average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 34% | 61.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 53% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 62% | 64.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 219 |
| 2023/24 | 208 |
| 2024/25 | 206 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Lift St Helen's compares
Lift St Helen's ranked 52nd of 73 primary schools in Barnsley for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 45% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 62% | 5.2% | 40.2% | 183 | — |
| Outwood Primary Academy Littleworth Grange | 66% | 4.6% | 44.1% | 394 | 0.8 miles |
| Carlton Primary Academy | 64% | 5.2% | 23.2% | 317 | 0.9 miles |
| Burton Road Primary School | 76% | 4.6% | 17.3% | 331 | 1.0 miles |
| Athersley South Primary School | 66% | 6.5% | 40.4% | 306 | 1.2 miles |
| Laithes Primary School | 68% | 7.3% | 54.1% | 308 | 1.3 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)
- 40.21%
- English as an additional language
- 7.3%
- Overall absence
- 5.19%
- Persistent absence
- 16.57%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Outwood Primary Academy Littleworth Grange0.8 miles
Primary · Barnsley
-
Carlton Primary Academy0.9 miles
Primary · Barnsley
-
Burton Road Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Barnsley
-
Athersley South Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Barnsley
-
Laithes Primary School1.3 miles
Primary · Barnsley
Other schools in Barnsley
Lift St Helen's ranks 41st of the 59 ranked primary schools in Barnsley.
- All Saints Academy Darfield Primary
- Athersley North Primary School Primary
- Athersley South Primary School Primary
- Bank End Primary Academy Primary
- Barugh Green Primary School Primary
- Birdwell Primary School Primary
- Birkwood Primary School Primary
- Brampton Cortonwood Infant School Primary
- Brierley Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Burton Road Primary School Primary
- Carlton Primary Academy Primary
- Cawthorne Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Lift St Helen's teach?
- Lift St Helen's teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Barnsley.
- Who is the headteacher of Lift St Helen's?
- The headteacher of Lift St Helen's is Miss Victoria Gorton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Lift St Helen's last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Lift St Helen's, 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 St Helen's?
- Lift St Helen's has 183 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Lift St Helen's full?
- Lift St Helen's has capacity for 280 pupils and 183 on roll (65%), so it has space against 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 St Helen's a faith school?
- No. Lift St Helen's has no designated religious character.
- Does Lift St Helen's have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Lift St Helen's as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Lift St Helen's?
- Lift St Helen's 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 St Helen's's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 34% in 2022/23 and 62% 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 St Helen's rank locally?
- Lift St Helen's ranked 52nd of 73 primary schools in Barnsley for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 45% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% 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 St Helen's's absence rate?
- Lift St Helen's's overall absence rate is 5.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Lift St Helen's's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Lift St Helen's'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.