Lift Meadstead
Meadstead Drive, Royston, Barnsley, S71 4JS
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- LIFT SCHOOLS
- Headteacher
- Mr Lee Bell
- Religious ethos
- None
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Lift Schools
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Barnsley North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 215
- URN
- 139132
- Local authority
- Barnsley
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01226722153
About this school
Lift Meadstead is a primary academy in Barnsley. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 215 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Lift Meadstead, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. 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 | 33 | 23 | 28 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 70% | 78% | 68% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 4% | 14% |
| Expected standard in reading | 82% | 87% | 75% |
| Expected standard in maths | 91% | 83% | 71% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 76% | 57% | 64% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 109.0 | 105.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 103.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | +3.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.00 | - | - |
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 Meadstead 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 | 70% | 61.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 78% | 60.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 68% | 64.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 234 |
| 2023/24 | 221 |
| 2024/25 | 210 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Lift Meadstead compares
Lift Meadstead ranked 31st of 73 primary schools in Barnsley for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 61% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 68% | 5.5% | 45.2% | 215 | — |
| Summerfields Primary Academy | 88% | 4% | 17.6% | 214 | 0.3 miles |
| Parkside Primary Academy | 72% | 4.5% | 27.9% | 225 | 0.3 miles |
| Royston St John Baptist CE Primary | 55% | 4.2% | 29.1% | 162 | 0.4 miles |
| Carlton Primary Academy | 64% | 5.2% | 23.2% | 317 | 1.1 miles |
| Athersley North Primary School | 49% | 8.3% | 58.2% | 290 | 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)
- 45.16%
- English as an additional language
- 1.9%
- Overall absence
- 5.54%
- Persistent absence
- 12.64%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Summerfields Primary Academy0.3 miles
Primary · Barnsley
-
Parkside Primary Academy0.3 miles
Primary · Barnsley
-
Royston St John Baptist CE Primary0.4 miles
Primary · Barnsley
-
Carlton Primary Academy1.1 miles
Primary · Barnsley
-
Athersley North Primary School1.3 miles
Primary · Barnsley
Other schools in Barnsley
Lift Meadstead ranks 24th 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 ages does Lift Meadstead teach?
- Lift Meadstead teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Barnsley.
- Who is the headteacher of Lift Meadstead?
- The headteacher of Lift Meadstead is Mr Lee Bell, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Lift Meadstead been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Lift Meadstead, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Lift Meadstead?
- Lift Meadstead has 215 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Lift Meadstead full?
- Lift Meadstead has capacity for 210 pupils and 215 on roll (102%), 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 Meadstead a faith school?
- No. Lift Meadstead has no designated religious character.
- Does Lift Meadstead have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Lift Meadstead as having nursery classes.
- Is Lift Meadstead part of an academy trust?
- Lift Meadstead 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 Meadstead have?
- The schools register lists Lift Meadstead's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Lift Meadstead's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 70% in 2022/23 and 68% 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 Meadstead compare with other schools in Barnsley?
- Lift Meadstead ranked 31st of 73 primary schools in Barnsley for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 61% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 47% 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 Meadstead's absence rate?
- Lift Meadstead's overall absence rate is 5.5% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Lift Meadstead's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Lift Meadstead'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.