Pencalenick School
St Clement, Truro, TR1 1TE
- Phase
- Academies
- School type
- Academy special converter
- Ages
- 3 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SPECIAL PARTNERSHIP TRUST
- Head of School
- Mr Joseph McGovern
- Religious ethos
- None
- Boarding
- Boarding school
- Sponsor
- The Special Partnership Trust
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, HI - Hearing Impairment, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Truro and Falmouth
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 199
- Pupils on roll
- 200
- URN
- 137478
- Local authority
- Cornwall
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01872520385
About this school
Pencalenick School is a special academy in Truro. It teaches children aged 3 to 16 and has 200 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | - | - | - |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | - | - | - |
| Expected standard in reading | - | - | - |
| Expected standard in maths | - | - | - |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | - | - | - |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | - | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | - | - |
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 26 | 32 | 36 |
| Attainment 8 score | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.91 -2.53 to -1.29 | -1.65 -2.15 to -1.16 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
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 Pencalenick 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 | 2.7 | 41.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 0.7 | 41.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 0.9 | 41.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 177 |
| 2023/24 | 195 |
| 2024/25 | 201 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 49.75%
- English as an additional language
- 3%
- Overall absence
- 11.86%
- Persistent absence
- 32.6%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Truro School1.6 miles
Independent schools
-
Polwhele House School1.7 miles
Independent schools · Truro
-
Truro High School2.3 miles
Independent schools · Truro
-
Community & Hospital Education Service Ap Academy2.6 miles
Academies · Truro
-
Truro School Preparatory School3.4 miles
Independent schools · Truro
Other schools in Truro
- Community & Hospital Education Service Ap Academy Academies
- Oak Tree School Special schools
- Three Bridges Special schools
- 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
Common questions
- What year groups does Pencalenick School teach?
- Pencalenick School teaches children aged 3 to 16. It is a special school in Truro.
- Who is the head of school of Pencalenick School?
- The head of school of Pencalenick School is Mr Joseph McGovern, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Pencalenick School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Pencalenick 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 Pencalenick School?
- Pencalenick School has 200 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 16.
- Is Pencalenick School full?
- Pencalenick School has capacity for 199 pupils and 200 on roll (101%), 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 Pencalenick School a faith school?
- No. Pencalenick School has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Pencalenick School?
- Pencalenick School is part of SPECIAL PARTNERSHIP TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Pencalenick School have?
- The schools register lists Pencalenick School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; HI - Hearing Impairment; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Pencalenick School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 2.7 in 2022/23 and 0.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Pencalenick School's absence rate?
- Pencalenick School's overall absence rate is 11.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Pencalenick School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Pencalenick 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.