Richard Lander School
Higher Besore Road, Truro, TR3 6LT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Stephen Mulcahy
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Truro and Falmouth
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,523
- Pupils on roll
- 1,561
- URN
- 112055
- Local authority
- Cornwall
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01872273750
About this school
Richard Lander School is a community secondary school in Truro. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,561 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 4 October 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 302 | 288 | 280 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.5 | 47.3 | 51.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.03 -0.13 to +0.20 | +0.07 -0.10 to +0.23 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 53% | 47.2% | 55.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 67.4% | 71.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 17% | 31.3% | 36.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.4 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Richard Lander School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Cornwall average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.5 | 41.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 47.3 | 41.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 51 | 41.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,508 |
| 2023/24 | 1,516 |
| 2024/25 | 1,525 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Richard Lander School compares
Richard Lander School ranked 1st of 31 secondary schools in Cornwall for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 79% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51 | 8.2% | 18.2% | 1,561 | — |
| Penair School | 49.1 | 8.2% | 19.7% | 1,223 | 3.2 miles |
| Redruth School | 45.7 | 8.9% | 27.2% | 1,433 | 6.2 miles |
| Penryn College | 49.2 | 10.5% | 19.5% | 1,140 | 6.5 miles |
| Falmouth School | 48.3 | 10.5% | 22.7% | 923 | 7.0 miles |
| Pool Academy | 41.8 | 8.2% | 29.5% | 714 | 7.7 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 18.23%
- English as an additional language
- 2.9%
- Overall absence
- 8.21%
- Persistent absence
- 22.96%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Penair School3.2 miles
Secondary · Truro
-
Redruth School6.2 miles
Secondary · Redruth
-
Penryn College6.5 miles
Secondary · Penryn
-
Falmouth School7.0 miles
Secondary · Falmouth
-
Pool Academy7.7 miles
Secondary · Redruth
Other schools in Truro
- Penair School Secondary
- The Roseland Academy Secondary
- Truro Nursery School Nursery
- Archbishop Benson CofE Primary School Primary
- Blackwater Community Primary School Primary
- Bosvigo School Primary
- Chacewater Community Primary School Primary
- Cusgarne Primary School Primary
- Devoran School Primary
- Gerrans School Primary
- Goonhavern Primary School Primary
- Grampound Road Village CofE School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Richard Lander School teach?
- Richard Lander School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Truro.
- Who is the headteacher of Richard Lander School?
- The headteacher of Richard Lander School is Mr Stephen Mulcahy, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Richard Lander School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Richard Lander School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Richard Lander School?
- Richard Lander School has 1,561 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Richard Lander School full?
- Richard Lander School has capacity for 1,523 pupils and 1,561 on roll (102%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Richard Lander School a faith school?
- No. Richard Lander School has no designated religious character.
- Is Richard Lander School a selective school?
- No. Richard Lander School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does Richard Lander School have?
- The schools register lists Richard Lander School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Richard Lander School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.5 in 2022/23 and 51 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Richard Lander School rank locally?
- Richard Lander School ranked 1st of 31 secondary schools in Cornwall for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 79% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Richard Lander School's absence rate?
- Richard Lander School's overall absence rate is 8.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Richard Lander School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Richard Lander School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.