Lift Hazelwood

Hazelwood Academy continues to perform well, maintaining a good overall effectiveness in all inspected areas. The school is dedicated to equipping pupils with essential knowledge and skills, and students express enthusiasm for their learning. Positive behavior is evident among pupils, and they demonstrate resilience and respect. The school atmosphere supports personal development, and parents report satisfaction with the care provided to their children. While the school showcases numerous strengths in curriculum delivery and student engagement, notable areas for improvement exist, particularly in the consistency of phonics instruction and assessment in foundation subjects. Some pupils exhibit challenges in recalling prior learning, pointing to a need for refined strategies in these areas to bolster educational outcomes. This is the first routine inspection for the school since the COVID-19 pandemic, underlining the importance of timely and focused development strategies.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy their learning and show resilience.
• Teachers provide effective support to enhance pupil learning.
• The school prioritizes reading and has introduced a new phonics scheme.
• Pupils learn about mental health and personal safety.
• The personal development curriculum promotes responsible citizenship.
• Pupils' behavior is polite and respectful, contributing to a calm school environment.
• There is strong support from the Academies Enterprise Trust.

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment in foundation subjects is not effectively identifying pupil knowledge.
• Inconsistencies in phonics teaching leave some pupils struggling to read fluently.

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 Hazelwood attended 96.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

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, 0.4% of pupils at Lift Hazelwood were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No 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 Hazelwood had 27.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

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, 18.7% of pupils at Lift Hazelwood were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

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 primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Lift Hazelwood received £6,825 and spent £7,209 for each of its 251 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £202,000 (£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 Swindon · Swindon local authority: places and applications

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

• Lift East Wichel Swindon
• Marling School Stroud
• Lift Callowell Stroud
• Lift Brockworth Gloucester
• Lift Cam Woodfield Junior Dursley
• Lift Crescent View Cheltenham
• Lift Hillview Gloucester
• Lift Winton Andover
• Lift Berkeley Berkeley
• Lift Broadlands Bristol

What is Lift Hazelwood's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Lift Hazelwood is Good, from an inspection in December 2023.

When was Lift Hazelwood last inspected by Ofsted?

Lift Hazelwood was last inspected in December 2023.

How many pupils does Lift Hazelwood have?

Lift Hazelwood has 252 pupils on roll.

What age range does Lift Hazelwood cover?

Lift Hazelwood for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Lift Hazelwood's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 80% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Lift Hazelwood?

Lift Hazelwood is at Stokesay Drive, Toothill, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 8DR.