Official inspection reports and grades
Inspected 21 April 2026
Compared with the local authority and England
Attainment 8 scores a pupil's best 8 GCSE results, out of about 90. Progress 8 compares those results with pupils who started secondary school at the same level: 0 is average.
| Measure | School | Middlesbrough | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 34.2 | 41.1 | 46.1 |
Grade 4 is a standard pass; grade 5 is a strong pass.
| Measure | School | Middlesbrough | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 21% | 37% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 41% | 57% | 65% |
| 5 or more GCSEs at grade 9-4, including English and maths | 36% | 52% | 60% |
The EBacc is English, maths, science, a language, and history or geography. It is a set of subjects rather than a qualification.
| Measure | School | Middlesbrough | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entering the EBacc | 25% | 28% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 2.8 | 3.5 | 4.1 |
Based on 155 pupils at the end of key stage 4.
School workforce census, 2025/26.
Ofsted inspected Lift Unity City on 21 April 2026 using a report card, which grades each area separately and gives no overall grade. The school met Ofsted's safeguarding standards. It was graded Expected standard for inclusion, for leadership and governance, for personal development and wellbeing and for attendance and behaviour; Needs attention for achievement and for curriculum and teaching.
Apply through the council where you live by 31 October in your child's Year 6, for a place starting the following September. You apply to your home council even if Lift Unity City is in another council's area, and can usually list between 3 and 6 schools in order of preference. Offers are sent on 1 March, or the next working day.
No. Distance only counts when Lift Unity City has more applicants than places. Then its admission criteria, set by its academy trust, decide who is offered a place first. Children in care or adopted from care come first by law. Most schools put brothers and sisters of current pupils next, then distance or a catchment area. How far away the last place went changes every year, depending on who applies.
Lift Unity City had 1,027 pupils aged 11 to 16 at the latest school census. Its official capacity is 1,050. It is a mixed school.