Lift Maltings

About Lift Maltings

Lift Maltings is a mixed 11-16 state secondary in Braintree, Essex, currently operating well below its capacity of 1,100 with 841 pupils on roll. That spare capacity is notable given the school’s popularity at admissions: for the 2025/26 intake, it received 260 applications for 136 places, with 119 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.91. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 21.6%, which is significantly above the national average for secondary schools and suggests a catchment serving a higher-than-typical level of disadvantage. The school is led by headteacher Leanne Abbott-Jones and has no religious character. Despite the strong demand from local families, the most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 rated the school as Requires Improvement across all categories — a sharp drop from its previous Outstanding rating in 2015. That downgrade will be a key consideration for parents weighing up the school’s popularity against its current performance.

Academically, the 2023/24 GCSE results paint a challenging picture. Lift Maltings’ Progress 8 score of -0.64 is classified as well below average, meaning pupils achieved nearly two-thirds of a grade less per subject than similar students nationally. This is notably weaker than the Essex local authority average of -0.18. The Attainment 8 score sits at 39, and only 36.8% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths, compared with 59.1% at grade 4 or above. The EBacc entry rate is low at 20.5%, and the EBacc average point score is 3.35. In the local Braintree ranking, the school places 8th out of 8 schools, and nationally it sits in the bottom 12% by Progress 8. The Ofsted breakdown shows that behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management all require improvement, alongside quality of education. For parents focused on academic outcomes, these figures will be a significant concern.

On the practical side, the school does offer a strong range of facilities, including a swimming pool, theatre, astro turf, sports hall, science labs, and music rooms. There are ten sports on offer and a varied club programme covering gardening, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, coding, Model UN, and Young Enterprise. The SEND provision is relatively broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. There is no sixth form, so pupils will need to move on after Year 11. The school is oversubscribed, which suggests it remains a popular local choice despite its Ofsted rating. It may suit families who value the breadth of facilities and extracurricular opportunities and who are comfortable with a school in a period of transition, but those prioritising strong academic outcomes or a Good or Outstanding Ofsted rating may want to look at higher-performing alternatives in the Essex area.

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