Penryn College, Penryn
Penryn College is a secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 16 in Penryn. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in April 2012. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in June 2022 did not change this grade. Its 2026 GCSE results were the 14th-highest of the 31 schools in Cornwall with published results, and 1,493rd of 3,298 across England. It was full in 2025, at 105% of capacity.
- GCSE results
- In line with England
- Ofsted
- Good (2012)
- Demand
- Every first choice offered
- Attendance
- Below England average
- Progress (2024)
- Above average
Year 7 applications for September 2027 close in 4 days
Deadline Saturday 31 October 2026. Apply to Cornwall (the council where you live). Offers on 1 March.
Data last updated 27 Oct 2026
Penryn College in detail
Results
In 2026, pupils at Penryn College averaged an Attainment 8 score of 46.8, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 44.7 in Cornwall and 47 across England.
49% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 42% in Cornwall and 47% in England.
That is down from 49.2 in 2025.
Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.14: pupils made above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.
Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 31.8, against 50.5 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 18.7 points.
Pupils sat GCSEs in 28 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Geography and History.
Getting a place at Penryn College
For September 2026 entry, 221 families put Penryn College as their first choice and 393 named it as one of their preferences, for 221 places offered. That is one first choice for every place. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.
What parents say
32 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Penryn College (as of April 2026): 59% would recommend the school, 56% say their child is happy there and 43% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (63%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (43%).
Where pupils go next
Of the 226 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 87% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 86% to a further education college, 4% to an apprenticeship and 2% into work.
Who goes there
1.8% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
In 2026, 200 pupils (17.5%) received SEN support and 96 (8.4%) 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 social, emotional and mental health needs.
Penryn College has a SEN unit for moderate learning difficulties: 32 places, 30 pupils on roll.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Penryn Rail Station, about 600 metres away (roughly a 8-minute walk).
11 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Woodland Avenue (ne-bound), 30 metres away.
The area around the school
In August 2026, police recorded 66 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, criminal damage and arson and other theft. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Cornwall (14), as is usual near a town centre.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Penryn College issued 390 suspensions, 33.8 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 2 permanent exclusions.
Primary schools nearby
The primary schools closest to Penryn College are Penryn Primary Academy (0.2 miles); Mabe Community Primary School (0.6 miles); St Francis CofE Primary School (1.5 miles); and St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Falmouth (1.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.
Penryn Primary AcademyMabe Community Primary SchoolSt Francis CofE Primary SchoolSt Mary's Catholic Primary School, Falmouth
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 destination measures; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Location
Every family who put it first was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance did not limit places that year.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 4 years agoThis judgement is from April 2012, 14 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Latest (ungraded) inspection: The school remains Good.
Ofsted Insights
Ofsted rated this school Good at its April 2012 inspection - down from Outstanding.
Rated Outstanding for
Leadership & management.
About
Penryn College is a mixed secondary academy school and Sports College in the Cornish town of Penryn, England, United Kingdom. It has 1,154 pupils in the age range of 11 to 16 years.
From Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
At a Glance
20.4%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
SEN unit: MLD
SEN Provision
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
32 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at April 2026 - % who strongly agree or agree
Secondary Performance (GCSE)
Academic year 2025/26GCSE Results
2025/26 academic year
Progress 8 has declined from 0.27 to 0.14 (2023 to 2024). Attainment 8 has declined from 49.0 to 46.8 (2023 to 2026). GCSE English & Maths 5+ has improved from 45% to 49% (2023 to 2026).
Performance by Group
| Group | Progress 8 | Attainment 8 | Eng+Maths 5+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| All pupils | - | 46.8 | 48.7% |
| Disadvantaged(46) | - | 31.8 | 26.1% |
| Not known to be disadvantaged(190) | - | 50.5 | 54.2% |
| Boys(123) | - | 43.5 | 45.5% |
| Girls(113) | - | 50.4 | 52.2% |
Show more breakdowns (2)
| Known or believed to be other than English(6) | - | 48.5 | 33.3% |
| Non mobile(227) | - | 47.6 | 49.8% |
2025/26 academic year - DfE performance tables data
GCSE Subjects Offered
+ 8 more subjects
2025/26 academic year - entries by number of pupils
After GCSEs - Leaver Destinations
After GCSEs (Year 11) - 226 students
2023/24 data
Exclusions & Suspensions
2
Permanent exclusions
0.17%
Exclusion rate
390
Suspensions
33.82%
Suspension rate
103 pupils received one or more suspensions out of 1,153 pupils
2024/25 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 1 nearby secondary school
Keep up with Penryn College
Term dates
Penryn College 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
Train Stations
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Penryn College from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Penryn College 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
- 4
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 1
- Children hurt
- 1
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 4 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 1 serious and 3 slight.
1 child aged 0 to 15 was hurt: 1 on foot.
1 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 Penryn College
Will you get a place at Penryn College? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Penryn College's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Penryn College:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Penryn College.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Cornwall, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Penryn College 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
105%
Over capacity
1,145 pupils
1,092 places
53 pupils over capacity in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Penryn
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Penryn
Across Cornwall council
Places available
6,387
Applications
5,542
Got 1st preference
97.4%
Got preferred school
99.3%
All secondary applications across Cornwall council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Every first choice offered
Inspection History(4)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
200
SEN Support
96
EHC Plans
26.0%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Penryn College has a SEN unit for moderate learning difficulties: 32 places, 30 pupils on roll.
Source: GIAS, Department for Education.
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
1,140
Total Pupils
588
Boys
552
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
74
Teachers
15.4:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£48,459
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£6,724
Per pupil
£8179k
Total funding
£234k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
10.5%
Overall absence
28.3%
Persistent absence
1,179
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
Questions parents ask about Penryn College
What are GCSE results like at Penryn College?
In the 2026 results, pupils at Penryn College achieved an Attainment 8 score of 46.8. 49% passed GCSE English and maths at grade 5 or above.
What is Penryn College's Ofsted rating?
Penryn College's most recent Ofsted inspection, in June 2022, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in April 2012, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for Penryn College?
No fixed boundary. When Penryn College is oversubscribed, Cornwall allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at Penryn College?
Penryn College was full in 2025, at 105% of its capacity, so places are allocated on the oversubscription criteria.
How big are the classes at Penryn College?
Classes at Penryn College average 22.4 pupils (2025/26).
How many pupils go to Penryn College?
Penryn College has around 1140 pupils on roll. 20% are eligible for free school meals.
Does Penryn College have specialist SEN provision?
Penryn College has a SEN unit for moderate learning difficulties: 32 places, 30 pupils on roll.
What is attendance like at Penryn College?
10.5% of sessions were missed at Penryn College in 2024/25. 28.3% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Penryn College?
Apply through Cornwall's coordinated admissions process, naming Penryn College on your application. Applications for Year 7 places starting in September 2027 close on Saturday 31 October 2026, and offers are made on Monday 1 March 2027.
How many road collisions happen near Penryn College?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 4 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 1 serious and 3 slight. 1 child aged 0 to 15 was hurt: 1 on foot. 1 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 Penryn College?
Penryn College is at Kernick Road, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 8PZ.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)