Lift Beacon - The School Companion

Lift Beacon

Charnwood · LE11 2NF

General information Primary School · 2-11 years Who goes here 379 pupils, 43.2% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN SEN unit · 12.7% on SEN support Behaviour 6.0% absence rate Staff 34.5% turnover Financials £9,516 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Lift Beacon

General Information

Address: Woodthorpe Road, Loughborough, LE11 2NF – View on map
Phone: 01509212227
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Ben Kilgannon
Age range: 2-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 26 families put it first for 27 places – 10 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

379 pupils out of 380 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 145
% eligible for free school meals: 43.2%
Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (more mixed than the Charnwood average)
English as an additional language: 28% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 34.5% a year (Charnwood 15.7%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 60% moved to another school, 40% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Leicestershire: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 7 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 3 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 3 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state primary schools in Leicestershire (the council area this school is in), not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 6.0%
Persistently absent pupils: 16.6%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

SEN unit for Speech, language and communicationModerate learning difficulties 36 places · 36 pupils at the last count

Places are usually for children with an EHC Plan and are arranged through the council, not the normal school application.

Pupils on SEN Support: 12.7%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 14.2%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 18 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 15 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 4 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 4 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 19 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 17 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 5 pupils
Physical disability: 4 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 3 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card April 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Strong standard
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour Strong standard
Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
Early years Expected standard
Leadership and governance Strong standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2021). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 81% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 6% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 18 percentage points above the Charnwood average (63%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (3-year average 64% against an expected 47%)
3-year average (expected standard): 64%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 84% · Writing 81% · Maths 84% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 66%
Average test scores: reading 108, maths 108
Based on: 32 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

SATs results over time

This schoolCharnwood averageEngland↗ Improving Up 22 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 18 percentage points above the Charnwood average (63%).

Year 6 SATs: 9th of 45 junior and primary schools in the area

=7Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy82%
=7Sileby Redlands Community Primary School82%
#9Lift Beacon81%
=10Rendell Primary School79%
=10Woodhouse Eaves St Paul's Church of England Primary School79%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1Swithland St Leonard's Church of England Primary School100%
#2Broomfield Community Primary School89%
=3Cossington Church of England Primary School88%
=3Newcroft Primary Academy88%
#5Hallam Fields, Birstall85%
#6Holywell Primary School83%
=7Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy82%
=7Sileby Redlands Community Primary School82%
#9Lift Beacon81%
=10Rendell Primary School79%
=10Woodhouse Eaves St Paul's Church of England Primary School79%
#12Oxley Primary School Shepshed77%
#13Loughborough Church of England Primary School75%
#14Hathern Church of England Primary School74%
#15Outwoods Edge Primary School71%
#16The Pochin School70%
=17Rothley Church of England Primary School69%
=17The Latimer Primary School69%
#19Burton-on-the-Wolds Primary School68%
#20Seagrave Village Primary School67%
=21Christ Church & Saint Peter's Cofe Primary School63%
=21St Bartholomew's Church of England Primary School63%
=21St Botolph's Church of England Primary School63%
#24Wymeswold Church of England Primary School62%
#25Newtown Linford Primary School60%
=26Saint Mary's Catholic Primary School, Loughborough58%
=26St Peter and St Paul Church of England Academy58%
=26The Merton Primary School58%
#29Church Hill Church of England Junior School57%
=30Richard Hill Church of England Primary School56%
=30Riverside Community Primary School Birstall56%
=30Stonebow Primary School Loughborough56%
=30Thrussington Church of England Primary School56%
=34Barrow Hall Orchard Church of England Primary School55%
=34Woolden Hill Primary School55%
#36Bishop Ellis Catholic Voluntary Academy53%
=37Queniborough Church of England Primary School52%
=37Thorpe Acre Junior School52%
#39Eastfield Primary School51%
#40Highcliffe Primary School and Community Centre49%
=41Highgate Primary School47%
=41Saint Winefride's Catholic Voluntary Academy, Shepshed, Leicestershire47%
=43Cobden Primary School & Community Centre45%
=43Mountfields Lodge School45%
#45Robert Bakewell Primary School29%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £9,516 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

1st of 45 primary schools in Charnwood for spending per pupil

#1Lift Beacon£9,516
#2Queniborough Church of England Primary School£8,573
#3Swithland St Leonard's Church of England Primary School£7,902

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Lift Beacon£9,516
#2Queniborough Church of England Primary School£8,573
#3Swithland St Leonard's Church of England Primary School£7,902
#4Richard Hill Church of England Primary School£7,865
#5Saint Winefride's Catholic Voluntary Academy, Shepshed, Leicestershire£7,747
#6St Michael & All Angels Church of England Primary School£7,744
#7Cobden Primary School & Community Centre£7,725
#8The Pochin School£7,540
#9St Botolph's Church of England Primary School£7,121
#10Thrussington Church of England Primary School£7,105
#11Cossington Church of England Primary School£7,088
#12Wymeswold Church of England Primary School£7,048
#13Seagrave Village Primary School£7,040
#14Rendell Primary School£6,852
#15Saint Mary's Catholic Primary School, Loughborough£6,815
#16Oxley Primary School Shepshed£6,806
#17Hathern Church of England Primary School£6,684
#18Woolden Hill Primary School£6,580
#19Burton-on-the-Wolds Primary School£6,467
#20Booth Wood Academy£6,414
#21Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy£6,383
#22Outwoods Edge Primary School£6,378
#23Robert Bakewell Primary School£6,318
#24St Bartholomew's Church of England Primary School£6,259
#25The Latimer Primary School£6,230
#26Eastfield Primary School£6,205
#27Newtown Linford Primary School£6,115
#28Highgate Primary School£6,101
#29Holywell Primary School£6,024
#30Hallam Fields, Birstall£6,005
#31Barrow Hall Orchard Church of England Primary School£6,002
#32Newcroft Primary Academy£5,985
#33Sileby Redlands Community Primary School£5,957
#34Bishop Ellis Catholic Voluntary Academy£5,921
#35Broomfield Community Primary School£5,906
#36Stonebow Primary School Loughborough£5,834
#37Christ Church & Saint Peter's Cofe Primary School£5,830
#38Rothley Church of England Primary School£5,610
#39Riverside Community Primary School Birstall£5,578
#40Mountfields Lodge School£5,501
#41The Merton Primary School£5,481
#42Woodhouse Eaves St Paul's Church of England Primary School£5,465
#43Highcliffe Primary School and Community Centre£5,388
#44Loughborough Church of England Primary School£5,319
#45St Peter and St Paul Church of England Academy£5,020

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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