Cape Cornwall School
Cape Cornwall Street, St Just, Penzance, TR19 7JX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- TRURO & PENWITH ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Jon Hall
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Truro and Penwith College
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- St Ives
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 600
- Pupils on roll
- 302
- URN
- 146325
- Local authority
- Cornwall
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01736788501
About this school
Cape Cornwall School is a secondary academy in Penzance. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 302 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Cape Cornwall 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 29 | 39 | 57 |
| Attainment 8 score | 39.5 | 39.9 | 38.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.21 -0.72 to +0.31 | -0.08 -0.52 to +0.37 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 38% | 25.6% | 31.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 59% | 57.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 76% | 76.9% | 64.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
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 Cape Cornwall 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 | 39.5 | 41.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.9 | 41.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38.4 | 41.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 232 |
| 2023/24 | 269 |
| 2024/25 | 284 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Cape Cornwall School compares
Cape Cornwall School ranked 31st of 31 secondary schools in Cornwall for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38.4 | 10.2% | 33.8% | 302 | — |
| Mounts Bay Academy | 43.7 | 9.3% | 22.1% | 922 | 5.8 miles |
| Humphry Davy School | 41.5 | 10.6% | 38.7% | 740 | 6.5 miles |
| St Ives School | 45 | 8.8% | 23.4% | 580 | 10.6 miles |
| St Just Primary School | — | 4.4% | 18.5% | 163 | 0.2 miles |
| Pendeen School | — | 5.8% | 31.3% | 79 | 2.1 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)
- 33.8%
- English as an additional language
- 6.3%
- Overall absence
- 10.2%
- Persistent absence
- 30.1%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Mounts Bay Academy5.8 miles
Secondary · Penzance
-
Humphry Davy School6.5 miles
Secondary · Penzance
-
St Ives School10.6 miles
Secondary · St Ives
-
St Just Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Penzance
-
Pendeen School2.1 miles
Primary · Penzance
Other schools in Penzance
- Humphry Davy School Secondary
- Mounts Bay Academy Secondary
- 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
Common questions
- What ages does Cape Cornwall School teach?
- Cape Cornwall School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Penzance.
- Who is the headteacher of Cape Cornwall School?
- The headteacher of Cape Cornwall School is Mr Jon Hall, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Cape Cornwall School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Cape Cornwall 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 Cape Cornwall School?
- Cape Cornwall School has 302 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Cape Cornwall School full?
- Cape Cornwall School has capacity for 600 pupils and 302 on roll (50%), 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 Cape Cornwall School a faith school?
- No. Cape Cornwall School has no designated religious character.
- Is Cape Cornwall School a selective school?
- No. Cape Cornwall School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Cape Cornwall School part of an academy trust?
- Cape Cornwall 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 Cape Cornwall School have?
- The schools register lists Cape Cornwall School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Cape Cornwall School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 39.5 in 2022/23 and 38.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Cape Cornwall School compare with other schools in Cornwall?
- Cape Cornwall School ranked 31st of 31 secondary schools in Cornwall for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Cape Cornwall School's absence rate?
- Cape Cornwall School's overall absence rate is 10.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Cape Cornwall School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Cape Cornwall 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 10 July 2026.