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State secondary schools in Cornwall

31 schools · South West · 2024/25 Department for Education figures

Cornwall has 31 state secondaries, 12 of them with sixth forms. 97.4% of families got their first choice last year, better than most of England. Results run from 24.3% to 56% passing English and maths, a spread of 32 points, with a middle school at 42%, below England's 45.4%.

Of those Ofsted has graded, 1 rated Outstanding, 21 Good, 1 Requires improvement. 8 schools carry no overall grade at all — either inspected since Ofsted stopped issuing one in September 2024, or never inspected.

31 schools in Cornwall. Tap one, or see the full list.
24% 56% passed English & maths

Cornwall against England

State-funded schools, 2024/25

43%

Passed English & maths grade 5 or above

2.1% below England

England 45%

45.2

Attainment 8 average score

in line with England

England 46.1

24%

Persistently absent missed 10% of sessions

2.9% above England

England 21%

Getting a place

2026/27 secondary admissions round, across Cornwall

97.4%

Got their first choiceof those who applied

England 84%

99.3%

Got one of their threefirst, second or third

0%

Got no offer at allfrom any preference

41%

Appeals upheld19 of 46 heard

These are figures for Cornwall as a whole. A popular school can be much harder to get into than the average suggests, and the criteria that decide it are set by each school's own admission authority rather than centrally. How applying works

How much the choice matters here

Across Cornwall's 31 schools, the share passing English and maths runs from 24% to 56%. That is a spread of 32 percentage points, narrower than most councils.

The typical council spans about 48 points. Where schools are close together the school a child gets matters less; where they are far apart it matters a great deal. The widest spreads are all selective areas, where grammar schools sit at one end and everything else at the other.

Cornwall schools, subject by subject

The share reaching grade 4 or above, among schools entering at least 20 pupils. Which pupils take a subject differs a lot between schools, so read this as what happened rather than as a ranking of teaching.

mathshistorygeographyenglish literatureenglish languagecombined scienceartbiologyphysicschemistryspanishdesign technologyfrenchphotographycomputer sciencefood technologydramaphysical education
  1. 1 Penair School Truro · 58 entries 84%
  2. 2 Bodmin College Bodmin · 36 entries 83%
  3. 3 Redruth School Redruth · 20 entries 80%
  4. 4 Helston Community College Helston · 67 entries 78%
  5. 5 St Ives School St Ives · 26 entries 77%
  6. 6 Penryn College Penryn · 46 entries 76%
  7. 7 Brannel School St Austell · 55 entries 71%
  8. 8 Pool Academy Redruth · 34 entries 56%
  9. 9 Torpoint Community College Torpoint · 31 entries 52%
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Every school in Cornwall

Schools in neighbouring authorities are not in this list, because admissions run per authority. See bordering areas.

3 of 31 have no spare places. Sort the list, or narrow it first.

  • Bodmin College Bodmin · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    45%
    Attainment 8
    46
    Absence
    23%
  • Brannel School St Austell · Good.
    Eng & maths
    31%
    Attainment 8
    41.6
    Absence
    28%
  • Budehaven Community School Bude · Good.
    Eng & maths
    36%
    Attainment 8
    45.4
    Absence
    29%
  • Callington Community College Callington · Good.
    Eng & maths
    41%
    Attainment 8
    44
    Absence
    24%
  • Camborne Science and International Academy Camborne · Good.
    Eng & maths
    47%
    Attainment 8
    49.7
    Absence
    20%
  • Cape Cornwall School Penzance · Good.
    Eng & maths
    32%
    Attainment 8
    38.4
    Absence
    27%
  • Falmouth School Falmouth · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    47%
    Attainment 8
    48.3
    Absence
    29%
  • Fowey River Academy Fowey · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    33%
    Attainment 8
    39.7
    Absence
    25%
  • Hayle Academy Hayle · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    33%
    Attainment 8
    42.4
    Absence
    23%
  • Helston Community College Helston · Good.
    Eng & maths
    47%
    Attainment 8
    43.6
    Absence
    23%
  • Humphry Davy School Penzance · Good.
    Eng & maths
    36%
    Attainment 8
    41.5
    Absence
    33%
  • Launceston College Launceston · Good.
    Eng & maths
    55%
    Attainment 8
    48
    Absence
    19%
  • Liskeard School and Community College Liskeard · Good.
    Eng & maths
    36%
    Attainment 8
    42.8
    Absence
    29%
  • Looe Community Academy Looe · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    24%
    Attainment 8
    39
    Absence
    37%
  • Mounts Bay Academy Penzance · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    38%
    Attainment 8
    43.7
    Absence
    24%
  • Mullion School Helston · Good.
    Eng & maths
    41%
    Attainment 8
    43.7
    Absence
    24%
  • Newquay Tretherras Newquay · Good.
    Eng & maths
    47%
    Attainment 8
    48.4
    Absence
    29%
  • Penair School Truro · Good.
    Eng & maths
    56%
    Attainment 8
    49.1
    Absence
    21%
  • Penrice Academy St Austell · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    52%
    Attainment 8
    50.9
    Absence
    17%
  • Penryn College Penryn · Good. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    49%
    Attainment 8
    49.2
    Absence
    22%
  • Poltair School St Austell · Good.
    Eng & maths
    48%
    Attainment 8
    47.4
    Absence
    22%
  • Pool Academy Redruth · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    38%
    Attainment 8
    41.8
    Absence
    23%
  • Redruth School Redruth · Good.
    Eng & maths
    42%
    Attainment 8
    45.7
    Absence
    22%
  • Richard Lander School Truro · Good.
    Eng & maths
    55%
    Attainment 8
    51
    Absence
    20%
  • Saltash Community School Saltash · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    39%
    Attainment 8
    42.9
    Absence
    26%
  • Sir James Smith's School Camelford · Good.
    Eng & maths
    43%
    Attainment 8
    42.7
    Absence
    35%
  • St Ives School St Ives · Good.
    Eng & maths
    45%
    Attainment 8
    45
    Absence
    26%
  • The Roseland Academy Truro · Outstanding. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    45%
    Attainment 8
    48.3
    Absence
    17%
  • Torpoint Community College Torpoint · Good.
    Eng & maths
    38%
    Attainment 8
    41
    Absence
    27%
  • Treviglas Academy Newquay · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    42%
    Attainment 8
    43
    Absence
    21%
  • Wadebridge School Wadebridge · Good. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    43%
    Attainment 8
    44.7
    Absence
    25%

Pick up to 4 schools to see them side by side in the comparison tool, subject by subject.

Sixth form · Key stage 5·2024/25

A levels in Cornwall

10 of Cornwall's 12 sixth forms publish A level results. Ranked on the share reaching AAB or better in at least two of the subjects universities name, which is the measure the steepest entry requirements are written in.

Sixth form Grade AAB+

A level results only. A sixth form running mostly BTECs and other applied courses will show a dash here and can still be the right one — those are graded on their own scale, where a distinction and an A grade carry the same points and mean different things.

Bordering Cornwall

Near a boundary, schools on both sides are usually in reach. Whether a child can apply is set by each school's admission criteria, not by the border.

Devon 42 schools · 46% passed English & maths

What these mean

Attainment 8
The average pupil's total score across eight GCSE-equivalent subjects, with English and maths counting double. It is scored out of 90. A score of 50 is roughly equivalent to achieving a grade 5 across eight subjects.
Grades 4 and 5
GCSEs are graded from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass and broadly corresponds to the old grade C; grade 5 is what the government calls a strong pass. Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an old grade A.
Persistent absence
The share of pupils who miss at least 10% of their possible sessions during the school year. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absence, so illness and other authorised reasons are included. Persistent absence has remained substantially higher than its pre-pandemic level.
First preference
The share of families who were offered the school they ranked first on their application, on national offer day in March. This figure is calculated across the relevant schools or admissions authority, so a high overall figure does not necessarily mean that every individual school is easy to get into.
Spare places
The amount of available capacity a school has compared with the number of pupils on roll. This is different from oversubscription: spare places measure whether a school has capacity, whereas oversubscription describes demand for places exceeding the number available. A school with no spare places may be popular, but a small school can also be full without receiving a large number of applications.
Average A-level grade
The average grade achieved across students' A-level entries. This is different from measures such as the proportion achieving AAB or better in two or more facilitating subjects, which are sometimes used to indicate higher attainment and university-entry performance.
Covers state-funded schools in England; independent schools are not included, and neither the list nor the subject figures above take account of them.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Key stage 4 performance and school characteristics: Department for Education, 2024/25. Inspection outcomes: Ofsted.