Penryn College
Kernick Road, Penryn, TR10 8PZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- PENRYN COLLEGE
- Headteacher
- Mrs Claire Croxall
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Truro and Falmouth
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 1,140
- URN
- 136852
- Local authority
- Cornwall
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01326372379
About this school
Penryn College is a secondary academy in Penryn. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,140 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 15 June 2022, 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 | 225 | 226 | 226 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.0 | 45.7 | 49.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.27 +0.09 to +0.46 | +0.14 -0.05 to +0.32 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45% | 41.2% | 48.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 62.4% | 69% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 15% | 23% | 19.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 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 Penryn College 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 | 41.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 45.7 | 41.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.2 | 41.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,147 |
| 2023/24 | 1,154 |
| 2024/25 | 1,153 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Penryn College compares
Penryn College ranked 4th 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 6% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49.2 | 10.5% | 19.5% | 1,140 | — |
| Falmouth School | 48.3 | 10.5% | 22.7% | 923 | 1.1 miles |
| Richard Lander School | 51 | 8.2% | 18.2% | 1,561 | 6.5 miles |
| Redruth School | 45.7 | 8.9% | 27.2% | 1,433 | 7.2 miles |
| Penair School | 49.1 | 8.2% | 19.7% | 1,223 | 8.0 miles |
| Helston Community College | 43.6 | 9% | 20.9% | 1,297 | 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)
- 19.51%
- English as an additional language
- 1.7%
- Overall absence
- 10.54%
- Persistent absence
- 28.33%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Falmouth School1.1 miles
Secondary · Falmouth
-
Richard Lander School6.5 miles
Secondary · Truro
-
Redruth School7.2 miles
Secondary · Redruth
-
Penair School8.0 miles
Secondary · Truro
-
Helston Community College8.1 miles
Secondary · Helston
Other schools in Penryn
- Mabe Community Primary School Primary
- Penryn Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Penryn College teach?
- Penryn College teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Penryn.
- Who is the headteacher of Penryn College?
- The headteacher of Penryn College is Mrs Claire Croxall, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Penryn College last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Penryn College, 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 Penryn College?
- Penryn College has 1,140 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Penryn College full?
- Penryn College has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 1,140 on roll (109%), 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 Penryn College a faith school?
- No. Penryn College has no designated religious character.
- Is Penryn College a selective school?
- No. Penryn College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Penryn College?
- Penryn College is part of PENRYN COLLEGE. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Penryn College have?
- The schools register lists Penryn College's special educational needs provision as: MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Penryn College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49 in 2022/23 and 49.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Penryn College rank locally?
- Penryn College ranked 4th 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 6% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Penryn College's absence rate?
- Penryn College's overall absence rate is 10.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Penryn College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Penryn College'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.