Poltair School
Trevarthian Road, St Austell, PL25 4BZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- CORNWALL EDUCATION LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Richard Cardigan
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Cornwall Education Learning Trust
- Constituency
- St Austell and Newquay
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 882
- URN
- 147442
- Local authority
- Cornwall
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01726874520
About this school
Poltair School is a secondary academy in St Austell. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 882 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
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
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 143 | 152 | 161 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.1 | 43.4 | 47.4 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.24 +0.01 to +0.48 | +0.26 +0.03 to +0.49 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 28% | 30.3% | 48.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 53% | 52% | 68.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 27% | 47.4% | 48.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.2 |
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 Poltair 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 | 44.1 | 41.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.4 | 41.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 47.4 | 41.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 802 |
| 2023/24 | 856 |
| 2024/25 | 877 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Poltair School compares
Poltair School ranked 10th of 31 secondary schools in Cornwall for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 67% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 47.4 | 9.6% | 33.3% | 882 | — |
| Penrice Academy | 50.9 | 6.9% | 21.6% | 1,405 | 0.9 miles |
| Brannel School | 41.6 | 10.1% | 30.4% | 888 | 4.6 miles |
| Fowey River Academy | 39.7 | 8.8% | 31.6% | 676 | 6.3 miles |
| The Roseland Academy | 48.3 | 8.7% | 21% | 665 | 7.3 miles |
| Bodmin College | 46 | 9.6% | 28.4% | 1,236 | 8.7 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)
- 33.3%
- English as an additional language
- 4.8%
- Overall absence
- 9.58%
- Persistent absence
- 26.56%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Penrice Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · St Austell
-
Brannel School4.6 miles
Secondary · St Austell
-
Fowey River Academy6.3 miles
Secondary · Fowey
-
The Roseland Academy7.3 miles
Secondary · Truro
-
Bodmin College8.7 miles
Secondary · Bodmin
Other schools in St Austell
- Brannel School Secondary
- Penrice Academy Secondary
- Bishop Bronescombe CofE School Primary
- Bugle School Primary
- Carclaze Community Primary School Primary
- Charlestown Primary School Primary
- Gorran School Primary
- Mevagissey Community Primary School Primary
- Mount Charles School Primary
- Nanpean Community Primary School Primary
- Roche Community Primary School Primary
- Sandy Hill Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Poltair School teach?
- Poltair School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in St Austell.
- Who is the headteacher of Poltair School?
- The headteacher of Poltair School is Mr Richard Cardigan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Poltair School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Poltair 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 Poltair School?
- Poltair School has 882 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Poltair School full?
- Poltair School has capacity for 900 pupils and 882 on roll (98%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Poltair School a faith school?
- No. Poltair School has no designated religious character.
- Is Poltair School a selective school?
- No. Poltair School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Poltair School?
- Poltair School is part of CORNWALL EDUCATION LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Poltair School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.1 in 2022/23 and 47.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Poltair School rank locally?
- Poltair School ranked 10th of 31 secondary schools in Cornwall for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 67% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Poltair School's absence rate?
- Poltair School's overall absence rate is 9.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Poltair School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Poltair 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.