Lotus Academy
- Special
- Academy special sponsor led
- Ages 6 to 16
URN 150029 · Sheffield · NEXUS MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
Inspection
Ofsted management information, as at 30 September 2026.
Latest graded inspection
23 March 2022Overall effectiveness
Inadequate
Ofsted category: Special measures.
- Quality of education
- Inadequate
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Inadequate
- Personal development
- Inadequate
- Leadership and management
- Inadequate
- Safeguarding is effective
- No
This inspection was of the predecessor school, before it converted or reopened under its current URN.
Section 8 inspection of good and outstanding schools
Under the earlier framework, inspections gave an overall effectiveness grade.
Read the reports on Ofsted’s website. Source: Ofsted, State-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information.
Attendance
Against Sheffield and England, special schools.
Overall absence
2024/2531.8%
- England
- 12.8%
19.0 percentage points higher than England.
Sessions missed for any reason, as a share of all possible sessions in the school year. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25.
Persistent absence
2024/2570.1%
- England
- 35.3%
34.8 percentage points higher than England.
Pupils who missed 10% or more of their possible sessions, as a share of pupils. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25.
Severe absence
2024/2525.8%
- England
- 6.9%
18.9 percentage points higher than England.
Pupils who missed 50% or more of their possible sessions, as a share of pupils. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25.
Suspensions and permanent exclusions
Against Sheffield and England, special schools.
Suspensions per 100 pupils
2024/25126.67
- England
- 12.32
114.35 higher than England.
Suspensions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. One pupil can be suspended more than once. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England, 2024/25.
Permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
2024/250.00
- England
- 0.08
0.08 lower than England.
Permanent exclusions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England, 2024/25.
Key stage 2 results
Against Sheffield and England, primary schools.
Reading, writing and maths: expected standard
2024/250%
Not compared with mainstream schools.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | Not published |
| 2023/24 | Not published |
| 2024/25 | 0% |
Pupils at the end of key stage 2 who met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Key stage 2 attainment, 2024/25.
Reading, writing and maths: higher standard
2024/250%
Not compared with mainstream schools.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | Not published |
| 2023/24 | Not published |
| 2024/25 | 0% |
Pupils at the end of key stage 2 who met the higher standard in reading, writing and maths combined. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Key stage 2 attainment, 2024/25.
Key stage 4 results
Against Sheffield and England, secondary schools.
Attainment 8
2025/26 (provisional)7.1
Not compared with mainstream schools.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | Not published |
| 2024/25 | 9.8 |
| 2025/26 (provisional) | 7.1 |
The average of pupils' points across eight GCSE-level qualifications, with English and maths counted twice. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Key stage 4 performance, 2025/26.
English and maths: grade 4 or above
2025/26 (provisional)0%
Not compared with mainstream schools.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | Not published |
| 2024/25 | 17% |
| 2025/26 (provisional) | 0% |
Pupils at the end of key stage 4 with grade 4 or above in both English and maths. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Key stage 4 performance, 2025/26.
English and maths: grade 5 or above
2025/26 (provisional)0%
Not compared with mainstream schools.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | Not published |
| 2024/25 | 0% |
| 2025/26 (provisional) | 0% |
Pupils at the end of key stage 4 with grade 5 or above in both English and maths. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Key stage 4 performance, 2025/26.
Pupils
Against Sheffield and England, special schools.
Eligible for free school meals
2024/2584.4%
- Sheffield
- 55.9%
- England
- 48.8%
35.6 percentage points higher than England.
Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals on census day in January. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
SEN support
2024/250.0%
- Sheffield
- 0.2%
- England
- 0.5%
0.5 percentage points lower than England.
Pupils receiving special educational needs support without an education, health and care plan. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
Education, health and care plan
2024/25100.0%
- Sheffield
- 99.8%
- England
- 99.5%
0.5 percentage points higher than England.
Pupils with an education, health and care plan. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
First language other than English
2024/255.6%
- Sheffield
- 16.7%
- England
- 14.4%
8.8 percentage points lower than England.
Pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
Teachers
Against Sheffield and England, special schools.
Pupils per qualified teacher
2025/267.1
- Sheffield
- 6.8
- England
- 7.3
0.2 lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Sheffield | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | Not published | 6.7 |
| 2018/19 | Not published | Not published | 6.8 |
| 2019/20 | Not published | Not published | 7.0 |
| 2020/21 | Not published | Not published | 6.8 |
| 2021/22 | Not published | Not published | 6.9 |
| 2022/23 | Not published | Not published | 7.0 |
| 2023/24 | Not published | Not published | 7.1 |
| 2024/25 | 8.7 | Not published | 7.3 |
| 2025/26 | 7.1 | 6.8 | 7.3 |
Full-time equivalent pupils for each full-time equivalent qualified teacher. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, School workforce in England, 2025/26.
Teacher sickness absence
2024/2511.5 days
- Sheffield
- 4.9 days
- England
- 5.0 days
6.5 days higher than England.
Compared with all state-funded schools: DfE publishes this measure for all schools, not by phase.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Sheffield | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | Not published | 4.0 days |
| 2018/19 | Not published | Not published | 4.0 days |
| 2019/20 | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| 2020/21 | Not published | Not published | 3.9 days |
| 2021/22 | Not published | Not published | 6.3 days |
| 2022/23 | Not published | Not published | 5.2 days |
| 2023/24 | Not published | Not published | 5.3 days |
| 2024/25 | 11.5 days | 4.9 days | 5.0 days |
Days lost to sickness absence in the school year, averaged across all teachers. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, School workforce in England, 2024/25.
Finance
Academies report their accounts as part of their trust, so DfE publishes no school-level balance for this school. The trust’s figures are in DfE’s Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool.
See this school in the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool
About the school
- Pupils on roll
- 108
- Capacity
- 100
- Type
- Academy special sponsor led
- Phase
- Special
- Age range
- 6 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- NEXUS MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Opened
- 1 September 2024
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Constituency
- Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough
- Deprivation of the area (IDACI)
- Decile 1 of 10 (1 is the most deprived tenth of neighbourhoods)
Sources and corrections
Every figure on this page names its source and period. This release was built on 20 October 2026.
- Department for Education: Get Information about Schools: establishment data (GIAS establishment extract 2026-10-20)
- Ofsted: State-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information (Latest inspections as at 2026-09-30; All inspections, 2018/19; All inspections, 2019/20; All inspections, 2020/21; All inspections, 2021/22; All inspections, 2022/23; All inspections, 2023/24; All inspections, 2024/25; All inspections, 2025/26)
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Pupil absence in schools in England (absence-3term-school, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England (exc-school, 2006/07 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-ap-school, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-geography, 2006/07 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-ap-geography, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Key stage 2 attainment (ks2-school, 2022/23 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; ks2-geography, 2015/16 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Key stage 4 performance (ks4-school, 2023/24 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; ks4-geography, 2018/19 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Schools, pupils and their characteristics (School census, January 2022 (performance tables, 2021 to 2022); School census, January 2023 (performance tables, 2022 to 2023); School census, January 2024 (performance tables, 2023 to 2024); School census, January 2025 (performance tables, 2024 to 2025))
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: School workforce in England (ptr-school, 2010/11 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; ptr-geography, 2010/11 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; sickness-school, 2009/10 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; sickness-geography, 2009/10 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: English indices of deprivation 2025: Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (English indices of deprivation 2025, File 7 (2021 LSOAs))
Spotted something wrong? Report a correction with the school’s URN (150029). Fixes go out in the next weekly release.