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Best secondary schools in Penzance
Best secondary schools in Truro & Falmouth
Best secondary schools in North Cornwall
Best secondary schools in St Austell & South East Cornwall
Post-16, Cornwall boasts one of the most highly rated sixth form colleges in the UK: Truro and Penwith College. The college has dual campus settings in Penzance and Truro and its ‘results are truly impressive’ according to our reviewer, with the IB is on offer as well as a vast range of A levels and vocational options. It is acknowledged as one of the top-rated providers of A levels nationally and has a good Oxbridge success rate.
There are no grammar schools in Cornwall but many living in south-east Cornwall tap into neighbouring Devon’s offerings in Plymouth and apply for Devonport High School for Boys with its great reputation for science and engineering or Devonport High School for Girls, which is the preferred local choice for parents wanting single-sex selective education for girls. Both schools prioritise places based on 11+ assessment performance rather than geographical location so children living in a different local authority have as much of a chance as any at securing a place. See our Devon Area Guide for more information on admissions.
The two favourite secondaries in the Penzance area are Mounts Bay Academy, an Apple Distinguished School with a fantastic reputation for its technology education and St Ives School, frequently oversubscribed and offering a good level of academic attainment.
Camborne has the Camborne Science and International Academy, notable mostly for its phenomenal and selective post 16 arm - CSMS (Cornwall School of Maths and Science), well worth a look if you have a bright STEM focused child. For other post 16 options, there is no need to look any further than the fantastic Truro and Penwith College, which has a campus in Penzance.
Best state primary schools in Penzance
Best private schools in Penzance
The Roseland Academy is considered locally to be the star player with a good pastoral reputation and strong academic results. Hot on its heels are Penryn College in Falmouth and Richard Lander School in Truro. Both finish at 16 and their popularity makes them hugely oversubscribed – to get into either of these two you need to live within the catchment area and list the school as your first choice, take a look at the Cornwall Council website to see a virtual map of these. All three of these schools feed into the fantastic Truro and Penwith College at its large Truro campus.
Further south, the Helston Community College sees pupils from 11 through until 18 and has good results, particularly at A level.
Best state primary schools in Truro & Falmouth
Best private schools in Truro & Falmouth
Best nurseries in Truro & Falmouth
The state secondary schools in this part of the county all go up to 18 and have fairly similar results for both GCSE and A level, sitting just on or below the national average. The best of these are Wadebridge School, Newquay Tretheras and Launceston College. While many pupils do stay on for A levels, others opt to travel across the county to pick up on the academic successes of Truro and Penwith College or access them via the linked, smaller but equally impressive Callywith College in Bodmin.
Best state primary schools in North Cornwall
Best private schools in North Cornwall
Best nurseries in North Cornwall
Penrice Academy in St Austell is considered to be the best in this area with solid results and a good local reputation; Looe Community Academy is another option worth considering. After GCSEs it’s a choice between travelling to Callywith College in Bodmin or applying for sixth form places at the Devon grammar options of Devonport High School for Girls and Devonport High School for Boys.
Best state primary schools in St Austell & South East Cornwall
Best private schools in St Austell & South East Cornwall
Best nurseries in St Austell & South East Cornwall
At Penryn College in Falmouth there is an additional resource base at the heart of the school for a small number of 11-16s with moderate learning needs – pupils can also access mainstream classes if appropriate. Richard Lander School in Truro has an additional resource provision for more severe learning difficulties, with the advantage of an array of outdoor activities including forest school and sailing. Just across the border in Plymouth, but admitting children from Cornwall, is Woodlands School, a haven for pupils aged 2 to 19; our reviewer writes, ‘Parents can breathe a sigh of relief when their children start at Woodlands. Excellent support is provided, not only for the children but for the family too.’
There are also some fantastic state-run all through special schools, see our ‘State primary schools for children with special educational needs in Cornwall’ section for more details.
Need help? Perhaps you suspect your child has some learning difficulty and you would like advice on what you should do. Or perhaps it is becoming clear that your child's current school is not working for him or her, and you need help to find a mainstream school which has better SEN provision, or to find a special school which will best cater for your child's area of need. Our SEN consultancy team advises on both special schools, and the mainstream schools with good SEN support, from reception through to the specialist colleges for 19+. Special Educational Needs Index
Find top international, British, IB and American schools in over 40 countries. The Good Schools Guide International publishes impartial and forthright reviews of international schools across the world.
We examined the value-added from KS2 to GCSE for 2022 to see which state selective grammar schools added the most value to their offspring. A note of caution - the more highly selective a grammar school, the less scope there will be to add value.
Grammar schools are state-funded, academically selective senior schools. The education a child receives at grammar school is paid for by the state unlike at private schools which provide education for a fee. There are currently around 163 located in 36 English local authorities, with around 167,000 pupils between them. Northern Ireland has a further 67 grammar schools, but there are none in Wales or Scotland. A word of caution: there are private schools that have the word 'grammar' in their name but this is purely for historical reasons.
At specialist music, dance or performing arts schools, the arts aren't optional extras. They’re intrinsic to the school curriculum. Students are expected to fit in high level training and hours of practice alongside a full academic provision. It's a lot to ask any child to take on, but for those with exceptional performing ability this kind of education can be transformative.