Lift Tamworth

Tamworth Enterprise College is a secondary academy in the LIFT Schools Trust that has improved since its previous inspection. Inspectors found a purposeful school with warm, respectful relationships, strong personal development and effective safeguarding. Pupils say they feel safe, follow the school's virtues, and benefit from a well-planned PSHE curriculum, a comprehensive careers programme and daily STRIVE enrichment. The school identifies pupils with SEND quickly, uses passports well and provides effective specialist reading support. Leadership has raised expectations, introduced a highly ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum, and the trust has provided targeted support; staff feel well supported and consulted. However, the improvements have not yet translated into consistently better outcomes by the end of key stage 4. In some subjects, teaching does not consistently check what pupils know and remember, so gaps and misconceptions are not always identified and addressed. Some pupils therefore struggle with work or do not get enough opportunity to deepen their knowledge and key skills. Attendance remains too high for some pupils, although the school is taking effective action and beginning to see improvement.

Strengths

• Warm, respectful and nurturing relationships between pupils and staff
• Purposeful atmosphere where pupils focus and work hard
• Pupils feel safe and know who to talk to about concerns
• Strong emphasis on personal development, mental health and well-being
• Well-planned PSHE curriculum covering healthy relationships, British values and online safety
• Comprehensive, high-quality careers programme that pupils engage with enthusiastically
• Effective identification of pupils with SEND and good use of passports to adapt teaching
• Specialist reading support that rapidly addresses weaknesses in phonics, grammar and comprehension
• Highly ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum
• Strong trust support and effective professional development; staff feel well supported
• Effective action to improve attendance, starting to have a positive impact
• Calm and orderly social times with behaviour expectations enforced quickly

Areas for Improvement

• Outcomes by the end of key stage 4 are not yet consistently improving
• Some teachers do not check pupils' understanding and recall well enough
• Gaps and misconceptions in pupils' knowledge are not always identified and addressed
• Some pupils struggle to complete work because of gaps in their knowledge
• In some subjects, pupils do not always get opportunities to deepen knowledge and key skills
• Teaching is not consistently adapted to support and challenge all pupils
• Absence from school remains higher than it should be for some pupils

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Lift Tamworth attended 88.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 37.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 11.7% of pupils at Lift Tamworth were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Lift Tamworth had 19.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.1% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 21.4% of pupils at Lift Tamworth were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Lift Tamworth received £9,202 and spent £8,728 for each of its 607 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £487,000 (£803 per pupil).

Across all 59 schools of Lift Schools, income was £8,746 and spending £8,644 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Tamworth · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

Lift Tamworth is part of Lift Schools, which runs 62 schools. The nearest others:

• Lift Rawlett Tamworth
• Lift Greenwood Birmingham
• Lift Lea Forest Birmingham
• Lift Anglesey Burton-On-Trent
• Lift Montgomery Birmingham
• Lift Percy Shurmer Birmingham
• Lift Four Dwellings Primary Birmingham
• Lift Four Dwellings Secondary Birmingham
• Lift Beacon Loughborough
• Lift Crescent View Cheltenham

What is Lift Tamworth's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Lift Tamworth is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Lift Tamworth last inspected by Ofsted?

Lift Tamworth was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Lift Tamworth have?

Lift Tamworth has 636 pupils on roll.

What age range does Lift Tamworth cover?

Lift Tamworth for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Lift Tamworth's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 35.3, and 26% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Lift Tamworth?

Lift Tamworth is at Birds Bush Road, Belgrave, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B77 2NE.