Pensans Community Primary School
Madron Road, Penzance, TR20 8UH
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- TRURO & PENWITH ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Niki Ambrose
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Truro and Penwith College
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- St Ives
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 139
- URN
- 142238
- Local authority
- Cornwall
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01736363627
About this school
Pensans Community Primary School is a primary academy in Penzance. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 139 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Pensans Community Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Early years
- Requires improvement
- 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 | 40 | 19 | 12 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 20% | 42% | 50% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 48% | 63% | 58% |
| Expected standard in maths | 38% | 47% | 67% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 53% | 53% | 67% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 99.0 | 101.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 97.0 | 99.0 | 100.0 |
| Reading progress | -4.50 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -4.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -5.60 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Pensans Community Primary 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 | 20% | 56.6% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 42% | 56.8% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 50% | 59.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 177 |
| 2023/24 | 133 |
| 2024/25 | 121 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Pensans Community Primary School compares
Pensans Community Primary School ranked 163rd of 209 primary schools in Cornwall for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50% | 6.5% | 59.3% | 139 | — |
| Heamoor Community Primary School | 47% | 6.2% | 31.3% | 201 | 0.5 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance | 63% | 9.2% | 53% | 139 | 0.5 miles |
| Alverton Primary School | 77% | 5.6% | 20.6% | 386 | 0.7 miles |
| St Mary's CofE Primary School, Penzance | 40% | 6.7% | 40.5% | 141 | 0.8 miles |
| Newlyn School | 78% | 6.1% | 41.3% | 152 | 1.0 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)
- 59.26%
- English as an additional language
- 3.3%
- Overall absence
- 6.46%
- Persistent absence
- 20.39%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Heamoor Community Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Penzance
-
St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance0.5 miles
Primary · Penzance
-
Alverton Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Penzance
-
St Mary's CofE Primary School, Penzance0.8 miles
Primary · Penzance
-
Newlyn School1.0 miles
Primary · Penzance
Other schools in Penzance
Pensans Community Primary School ranks 13th of the 18 ranked primary schools in Penzance.
- Alverton Primary School Primary
- Germoe Community Primary School Primary
- Gulval School Primary
- Heamoor Community Primary School Primary
- Ludgvan School Primary
- Madron Daniel Church of England School Primary
- Madron Daniel CofE (VA) School Primary
- Mousehole School Primary
- Nancledra School Primary
- Newlyn School Primary
- Pendeen School Primary
- Sennen Community Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Pensans Community Primary School teach?
- Pensans Community Primary School teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Penzance.
- Who is the headteacher of Pensans Community Primary School?
- The headteacher of Pensans Community Primary School is Mrs Niki Ambrose, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Pensans Community Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Pensans Community Primary 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 many pupils are at Pensans Community Primary School?
- Pensans Community Primary School has 139 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is Pensans Community Primary School full?
- Pensans Community Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 139 on roll (66%), 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 Pensans Community Primary School a faith school?
- No. Pensans Community Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Pensans Community Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Pensans Community Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Is Pensans Community Primary School part of an academy trust?
- Pensans Community Primary School is part of TRURO & PENWITH ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Pensans Community Primary School have?
- The schools register lists Pensans Community Primary School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Pensans Community Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 20% in 2022/23 and 50% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Pensans Community Primary School compare with other schools in Cornwall?
- Pensans Community Primary School ranked 163rd of 209 primary schools in Cornwall for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Pensans Community Primary School's absence rate?
- Pensans Community Primary School's overall absence rate is 6.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Pensans Community Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Pensans Community Primary 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 2 July 2026.