Best Schools in Penzance

How many schools are there in Penzance?

Penzance has 24 open schools: 19 state primary, 4 state secondary or all-through and 1 special.

Source: DfE Get Information About Schools

Are there any Outstanding schools in Penzance?

None of the 24 graded schools in Penzance currently holds an Outstanding rating. 21 are rated Good, so 88% are Good or better. Ofsted stopped giving single-word overall grades in September 2024, so these are the grades from each school's last full inspection.

Source: Ofsted

Which secondary schools in Penzance get the best GCSE results?

Of the 3 schools in Penzance with 2026 GCSE results, the highest Attainment 8 scores - the average grade across a pupil's best eight GCSEs - were at Mounts Bay Academy, with an Attainment 8 score of 44.1 and 39% passing English and maths at grade 5 or above; Humphry Davy School, with an Attainment 8 score of 41.7 and 39% passing English and maths at grade 5 or above; and Cape Cornwall School, with an Attainment 8 score of 32.7 and 18% passing English and maths at grade 5 or above. Progress 8, the DfE's value-added measure, was not published for 2026.

Mounts Bay AcademyHumphry Davy SchoolCape Cornwall School

Source: DfE school performance data

Which primary schools in Penzance have the best SATs results?

3 of the 18 primary schools in Penzance with 2025 Key Stage 2 results had every pupil reach the expected standard in both reading and maths: Mousehole School, St Levan Primary School and Trythall Community Primary School. Small schools can swing a long way from one year to the next, because each pupil is a large share of the result.

Mousehole SchoolSt Levan Primary SchoolTrythall Community Primary School

Source: DfE school performance data

Are there grammar schools in Penzance?

No. None of the state secondary schools in Penzance selects pupils by ability, so every state secondary here is comprehensive.

Source: DfE Get Information About Schools

Do schools in Penzance have catchment areas?

Most state schools in Penzance have no fixed catchment boundary. When a school is oversubscribed, Cornwall allocates places on its published criteria - usually looked-after children first, then siblings, then home-to-school distance - so the practical cut-off moves each year. Each school's page here shows an estimate of its catchment radius.

How do I apply for a school place in Penzance?

Apply to Cornwall through its coordinated admissions process, even for academies and faith schools. In England the closing date is 31 October for secondary places and 15 January for primary places, in the year before your child starts.