Penair School
St Clement, Truro, TR1 1TN
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- PENAIR SCHOOL
- Headteacher
- Headteacher James Davidson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Penair School
- Constituency
- Truro and Falmouth
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,320
- Pupils on roll
- 1,223
- URN
- 136567
- Local authority
- Cornwall
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01872274737
About this school
Penair School is a secondary academy in Truro. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,223 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 29 March 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 | 219 | 205 | 232 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.3 | 48.0 | 49.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.03 -0.22 to +0.16 | +0.05 -0.15 to +0.25 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 50% | 54.1% | 56% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 71% | 70.2% | 70.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 20% | 10.2% | 18.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.1 |
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 Penair 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 | 45.3 | 41.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48 | 41.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.1 | 41.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,148 |
| 2023/24 | 1,186 |
| 2024/25 | 1,239 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Penair School compares
Penair School ranked 5th of 31 secondary schools in Cornwall for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49.1 | 8.2% | 19.7% | 1,223 | — |
| Richard Lander School | 51 | 8.2% | 18.2% | 1,561 | 3.2 miles |
| The Roseland Academy | 48.3 | 8.7% | 21% | 665 | 5.5 miles |
| Brannel School | 41.6 | 10.1% | 30.4% | 888 | 7.9 miles |
| Penryn College | 49.2 | 10.5% | 19.5% | 1,140 | 8.0 miles |
| Falmouth School | 48.3 | 10.5% | 22.7% | 923 | 8.1 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)
- 19.69%
- English as an additional language
- 6.6%
- Overall absence
- 8.17%
- Persistent absence
- 22.07%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Richard Lander School3.2 miles
Secondary · Truro
-
The Roseland Academy5.5 miles
Secondary · Truro
-
Brannel School7.9 miles
Secondary · St Austell
-
Penryn College8.0 miles
Secondary · Penryn
-
Falmouth School8.1 miles
Secondary · Falmouth
Other schools in Truro
- Richard Lander 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 Penair School teach?
- Penair School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Truro.
- Who is the headteacher of Penair School?
- The headteacher of Penair School is Headteacher James Davidson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Penair School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Penair 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 Penair School?
- Penair School has 1,223 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Penair School full?
- Penair School has capacity for 1,320 pupils and 1,223 on roll (93%), so it has space against 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 Penair School a faith school?
- No. Penair School has no designated religious character.
- Is Penair School a selective school?
- No. Penair School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Penair School?
- Penair School is part of PENAIR SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Penair School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.3 in 2022/23 and 49.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Penair School rank locally?
- Penair School ranked 5th of 31 secondary schools in Cornwall for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Penair School's absence rate?
- Penair School's overall absence rate is 8.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Penair School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Penair 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 1 July 2026.