Penrice Academy is a mixed secondary academy in St Austell, Cornwall Council, teaching 1,405 pupils aged 11 to 16. Ofsted graded quality of education as Outstanding at its most recent inspection in February 2025. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 50.9 (England 46.1). Its 2025–2026 calendar lists 8 holidays.

Ofsted inspection

The latest published Ofsted judgement for Penrice Academy.

Latest inspection
Graded inspection No single overall grade (Sept 2024+)

From September 2024 Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. These are the graded judgement areas from the latest inspection.

Quality of educationOutstanding
Behaviour & attitudesOutstanding
Personal developmentOutstanding
Leadership & managementOutstanding
S5 Inspection · Inspected 11 Feb 2025 · Published 11 Mar 2025
Read full Ofsted report ↗

Scale: Outstanding Good Requires improvement Inadequate

Term dates & holidays 2025–2026

Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for Penrice Academy.

Penrice Academy term dates calendar 2025–2026
Official term-dates calendar · 2025–2026 · source

Interactive Calendar

December 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 25 Christmas Day (Bank Holiday)
  • 26 Boxing Day (Bank Holiday)
January 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1 New Year's Day (Bank Holiday)
February 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
March 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
April 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 3 Good Friday (Bank Holiday)
  • 6 Easter Monday (Bank Holiday)
May 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 4 Early May Bank Holiday
  • 25 Spring Bank Holiday
June 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
July 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
August 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 31 Summer Bank Holiday

Key dates (2025–2026)

  • Autumn Term Starts Thursday 4 September 2025 Term
  • Autumn Half Term Friday 17 October 2025 - Sunday 2 November 2025 Holiday
  • Autumn Term Ends Friday 19 December 2025 Term
  • Spring Term Starts Monday 5 January 2026 Term
  • Spring Half Term Monday 16 February 2026 - Friday 20 February 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Term Ends Thursday 2 April 2026 Term
  • Summer Term Starts Monday 20 April 2026 Term
  • Summer Half Term Monday 25 May 2026 - Friday 29 May 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Term Ends Friday 24 July 2026 Term
  • New Year's Day (Bank Holiday) 1 January 2026 Holiday
  • Good Friday (Bank Holiday) 3 April 2026 Holiday
  • Easter Monday (Bank Holiday) 6 April 2026 Holiday
  • Early May Bank Holiday 4 May 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Bank Holiday 25 May 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Bank Holiday 31 August 2026 Holiday
  • Christmas Day (Bank Holiday) 25 December 2025 Holiday
  • Boxing Day (Bank Holiday) 26 December 2025 Holiday

Exam results & performance

DfE performance tables Official results, 2024–2025 GOV.UK ↗
50.9 Attainment 8 England 46.1 Top 22%
52.2% Grade 5+ English & maths England 45.4% Top 26%
17.8% Persistent absence England 17.8%

The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare Penrice Academy with Cornwall Council and England.

Key stage 4 (GCSE) 50.9 Attainment 8 score

Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.

This school Cornwall Council England

Attainment 8 score · Average across 8 GCSEs, out of 90 50.9
Cornwall Council 45.2 England 46.1 +4.8 vs England
Grade 5+ in English & maths · A strong pass 52.2%
Cornwall Council 43.3% England 45.4% +6.8 vs England
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils 39.4
Cornwall Council 33 England 34.9 +4.5 vs England
Disadvantage gap · Attainment 8 points; smaller is better 14
Cornwall Council 15.9 England 15.5 -1.5 vs England
Disadvantaged pupils in the year group · Context for the scores above 18%
Cornwall Council 23.1% England 28.2%
Pupils in the year group · Small cohorts swing wildly 272
Attendance 17.8% Persistently absent pupils

Absence across the whole school year.

This school Cornwall Council England

Persistently absent pupils · Missed 10%+ of sessions; lower is better 17.8%
Cornwall Council 18.3% England 17.8% in line with England
Overall absence · Lower is better 6.9%
Cornwall Council 7% England 6.8% in line with England
What pupils do after GCSEs 93% In education, apprenticeship or work

Still in education, an apprenticeship or work a year after key stage 4.

This school Cornwall Council England

In education, apprenticeship or work 93%
Cornwall Council 91% England 92% +1 vs England
Same, for disadvantaged pupils 79%
Cornwall Council 82% England 83% -4 vs England
About this data source & caveats

Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.

We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.

Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for Penrice Academy. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.

Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Location & catchment area

Indicative catchment Other secondary schools

Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to Penrice Academy than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.