Ludgvan School, Penzance
Ludgvan School is a primary school for pupils aged 5 to 11 in Penzance, part of Truro & Penwith Academy Trust. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in November 2019. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in October 2024 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 16th-highest of the 18 schools in Penzance with published results, and 12,428th of 14,452 across England. For 2026 entry it had 1.4 first-choice applications for every place. It was 97% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- Below England average
- Ofsted
- Good (2019)
- Demand
- Oversubscribed
- Attendance
- In line with England
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 80 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Cornwall (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 27 Oct 2026
Ludgvan School in detail
Ludgvan School in its own words
In its own words: "Ludgvan School is situated in the heart of Ludgvan village, near Marazion and Penzance, close to Mounts Bay. It is a modern building set in beautiful grounds with the benefit of superb views across the countryside. Internally, the school is carpeted and, where appropriate, natural materials are used for furnishing. All this helps to create a calm, attractive learning environment."
Vision and values (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Results
In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils at Ludgvan School reached the expected standard in reading and 59% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 76% and 73% in Cornwall and 77% and 75% across England.
Results fell from 69% in reading and 76% in maths in 2024.
With small year groups, a few pupils can move these figures by several points.
Getting a place at Ludgvan School
For September 2026 entry, 42 families put Ludgvan School as their first choice and 70 named it as one of their preferences, for 29 places offered. That is 1.4 first choices for every place. 14 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to Ludgvan School are Marazion School (1.6 miles); Gulval School (2.1 miles, Good, 83% reading, 79% maths); Nancledra School (2.6 miles, Good, 92% reading, 85% maths); and St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance (2.8 miles, Good, 67% reading, 71% maths).
Each of them had higher 2025 results than Ludgvan School.
Marazion SchoolGulval SchoolNancledra SchoolSt Mary's Catholic School, Penzance
The trust
Ludgvan School is one of 41 schools run by Truro & Penwith Academy Trust, an academy trust.
What parents say
53 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Ludgvan School (as of September 2025): 91% would recommend the school, 96% say their child is happy there and 69% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that their child is happy at the school (96%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (69%).
Who goes there
10.6% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 5% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
In 2026, 36 pupils (18.1%) received SEN support and 5 (2.5%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is a moderate learning difficulty.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is St Erth Rail Station, about 2.4 miles away in a straight line.
6 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is The Old Inn (opposite), 140 metres away.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Ludgvan School issued 15 suspensions, 7.4 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; Ofsted Parent View; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); DfE exclusions statistics
Location
Our estimate from how close the nearest similar schools are and how oversubscribed the council's schools are. It is not a published boundary.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from November 2019, 6 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Early Years
Ofsted's report, in its own words
What is it like to attend this school?
Pupils are proud to belong to this friendly and welcoming school. They are happy and attend well. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), benefit from positive and supportive relationships with the adults in the school. This starts in the early years where staff nurture and support children well.
The school has high expectations for pupils to achieve their best. Most pupils live up to these. Classrooms are typically calm and productive places. Pupils feel safe in school. They know who to talk to if they are worried. If bullying does happen, the school is swift to act to ensure all pupils receive the appropriate support to avoid future incidents.
What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?
The school has designed a broad and ambitious curriculum that is logically ordered from the early years to Year 6. The school has identified the important knowledge and key vocabulary that pupils need to learn. In most subjects, pupils learn well. For example, in mathematics, children in the Reception Year learn to subitise accurately. Children then practise counting in real-life and play situations, recognising small numbers of items. Older pupils build on this and can explain multiples of various numbers. Staff check regularly that pupils remember what they learn. Staff adapt their input to ensure that learning is secure and misconceptions do not persist.
However, in some subjects, the school has not considered the end points that the curriculum is building towards. This means that the knowledge and skills that pupils need to retain to reach those end points are not sufficiently clear. Consequently, in these subjects, some pupils do not build their knowledge well or remember enough of their learning over time.
From Ofsted's October 2024 ungraded inspection report: the opening paragraphs of each section, quoted word for word. Read the full report Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Ofsted Insights
Ofsted rated this school Good at its November 2019 inspection - down from Outstanding.
Rated Outstanding for
Personal development.
Rated Good for
Quality of education, Behaviour & attitudes, Leadership & management, Early years.
At a Glance
10.6%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
53 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at September 2025 - % who strongly agree or agree
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2024/25KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has remained stable at around 66% (2024 to 2025). Maths has declined from 76% to 59% (2024 to 2025). Writing has declined from 69% to 56% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
28.4
Avg class size
28.7
Infant (KS1)
28.3
KS2
7
Total classes
1 class with more than 30 pupils
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Keep up with Ludgvan School
Term dates
Ludgvan School is an academy, so it sets its own term dates: check the school's website. As a guide, see Cornwall's term dates for its community schools.
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Ludgvan School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Ludgvan School is in Cornwall; for families living there:
- Cornwall's school travel policy: Home to School Travel Assistance Policy 2026/27
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 8
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 3
- Children hurt
- 1
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 8 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 5 slight.
1 child aged 0 to 15 was hurt: 1 on foot.
2 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Cornwall is 3 (the median across 299 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Your chances of a place at Ludgvan School
Will you get a place at Ludgvan School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Ludgvan School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Ludgvan School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Ludgvan School.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Cornwall, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Ludgvan School for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Cornwall got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
97%
Near capacity
203 pupils
210 places
7 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Penzance
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Penzance
Across Cornwall council
Places available
6,475
Applications
4,732
Got 1st preference
95.9%
Got preferred school
99.6%
All primary applications across Cornwall council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Oversubscribed
Inspection History(3)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
36
SEN Support
5
EHC Plans
20.6%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
199
Total Pupils
96
Boys
103
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
10
Teachers
19.9:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£52,205
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£5,286
Per pupil
£1179k
Total funding
£36k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
4.4%
Overall absence
7.8%
Persistent absence
179
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Questions parents ask about Ludgvan School
What are SATs results like at Ludgvan School?
Of the pupils at Ludgvan School who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 66% reached the expected standard in reading and 59% did so in maths.
What is Ludgvan School's Ofsted rating?
Ludgvan School's most recent Ofsted inspection, in October 2024, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in November 2019, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for Ludgvan School?
No fixed boundary. When Ludgvan School is oversubscribed, Cornwall allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at Ludgvan School?
Ludgvan School was close to full in 2025, at 97% of its capacity.
How big are the classes at Ludgvan School?
Classes at Ludgvan School average 28.4 pupils (2025/26). 1 class has more than 30 pupils - infant classes are capped at 30 by law, with limited exceptions.
How many pupils go to Ludgvan School?
Ludgvan School has around 199 pupils on roll. 11% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Ludgvan School?
4.4% of sessions were missed at Ludgvan School in 2024/25. 7.8% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Ludgvan School?
Apply through Cornwall's coordinated admissions process, naming Ludgvan School on your application. Applications for Reception places starting in September 2027 close on Friday 15 January 2027, and offers are made on Friday 16 April 2027.
How many road collisions happen near Ludgvan School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 8 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 3 serious and 5 slight. 1 child aged 0 to 15 was hurt: 1 on foot. 2 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Cornwall is 3 (the median across 299 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Ludgvan School?
Ludgvan School is at Lower Quarter, Ludgvan, Penzance, Cornwall, TR20 8EX.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)