Pondhu Primary School
Penwinnick Road, St. Austell, PL25 5DS
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- CORNWALL EDUCATION LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Rachel Clift
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Cornwall Education Learning Trust
- Constituency
- St Austell and Newquay
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 240
- Pupils on roll
- 187
- URN
- 148106
- Local authority
- Cornwall
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 0172674550
About this school
Pondhu Primary School is a primary academy in St. Austell. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 187 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 20 April 2023, 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 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 30 | 31 | 19 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 67% | 55% | 47% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 6% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 77% | 61% | 58% |
| Expected standard in maths | 77% | 71% | 63% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 73% | 71% | 42% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 103.0 | 102.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 102.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +3.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.30 | - | - |
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 Pondhu 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 | 67% | 56.6% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 55% | 56.8% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 47% | 59.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 180 |
| 2023/24 | 167 |
| 2024/25 | 161 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Pondhu Primary School compares
Pondhu Primary School ranked 173rd of 209 primary schools in Cornwall for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 18% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 47% | 5.1% | 50.3% | 187 | — |
| St Mewan Community Primary School | 60% | 3.6% | 12.8% | 441 | 0.7 miles |
| Mount Charles School | 62% | 4.3% | 37.9% | 333 | 1.1 miles |
| Sandy Hill Academy | 72% | 3.9% | 19.7% | 455 | 1.4 miles |
| Carclaze Community Primary School | 63% | 4.2% | 21% | 377 | 1.5 miles |
| Bishop Bronescombe CofE School | 58% | 4.6% | 21.8% | 267 | 2.0 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)
- 50.31%
- English as an additional language
- 6.8%
- Overall absence
- 5.13%
- Persistent absence
- 13.25%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Mewan Community Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · St Austell
-
Mount Charles School1.1 miles
Primary · St Austell
-
Sandy Hill Academy1.4 miles
Primary · St Austell
-
Carclaze Community Primary School1.5 miles
Primary · St Austell
-
Bishop Bronescombe CofE School2.0 miles
Primary · St Austell
Other schools in St. Austell
- Foxhole Learning Academy Primary
- Whitemoor Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Pondhu Primary School teach?
- Pondhu Primary School teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in St. Austell.
- Who is the headteacher of Pondhu Primary School?
- The headteacher of Pondhu Primary School is Mrs Rachel Clift, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Pondhu Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Pondhu 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 big is Pondhu Primary School?
- Pondhu Primary School has 187 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is Pondhu Primary School full?
- Pondhu Primary School has capacity for 240 pupils and 187 on roll (78%), 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 Pondhu Primary School a faith school?
- No. Pondhu Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Pondhu Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Pondhu Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Pondhu Primary School?
- Pondhu Primary 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 Pondhu Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 67% in 2022/23 and 47% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Pondhu Primary School rank locally?
- Pondhu Primary School ranked 173rd of 209 primary schools in Cornwall for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 18% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Pondhu Primary School's absence rate?
- Pondhu Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.1% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Pondhu Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Pondhu 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 10 July 2026.