Saltash Community School

Saltash Community School is a secondary comprehensive and sixth form in Cornwall, part of South East Cornwall Multi Academy Regional Trust. It has improved since its previous inspection, with all key judgements now good. Behaviour expectations have risen significantly and, although the changes caused some unrest, the school is now calm and orderly; pupils feel safe and bullying is taken seriously. The curriculum is ambitious and well planned, and most pupils learn effectively, though improvements are not yet reflected in published outcomes, including in the sixth form. Strengths include a robust reading curriculum, a wide extra-curricular offer, strong personal development and effective safeguarding. The Area Resource Base is highly ambitious and provides a highly personalised curriculum. Leadership has been stabilised by the headteacher and team, with staff supportive and governors knowing the school well. However, teaching does not consistently check pupils’ understanding before independent work, and some SEND support plans are not reviewed or implemented well enough, leaving some pupils and parents feeling let down. Sixth-form students benefit from wider opportunities, but careers guidance is less effective: retention on some courses is too low, some students do not complete work experience, and destinations are not consistently ambitious. The school needs to embed assessment, strengthen SEND systems and improve sixth-form CEIAG so that all pupils and students build knowledge securely and move on successfully.

Strengths

• Behaviour expectations have risen and the school is calm and orderly.
• Pupils feel safe and bullying, including derogatory language, is taken seriously.
• The curriculum is ambitious and carefully sequenced across subjects and the sixth form.
• Staff have strong subject expertise and regularly revisit learning so most pupils remember more.
• The reading curriculum is robust, with prompt support and phonics catch-up for pupils who fall behind.
• Pupils enjoy a wide range of extra-curricular activities, including sports, performing arts and Duke of Edinburgh.
• Personal development teaches healthy relationships, safety, respect for differences and Cornish heritage.
• The Area Resource Base provides a highly personalised curriculum delivered by expert staff.
• Leadership has united staff after instability, and governors support and challenge leaders well.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Sixth-form students take reading buddy roles seriously and access wider opportunities such as sports leadership and EPQ.

Areas for Improvement

• Staff do not consistently check pupils’ understanding before moving to independent work, so some pupils struggle to practise and deepen learning.
• Oversight, review and implementation of some SEND support plans are not strong enough, and some parents feel let down.
• Teachers do not always have the information needed to adapt teaching to some pupils with SEND.
• Published outcomes do not yet reflect curriculum improvements, including in the sixth form.
• Sixth-form careers information, advice and guidance is not consistently effective.
• Retention on some sixth-form courses is too low, and some students do not complete work experience.
• Some sixth-form students do not choose ambitious destinations at the end of key stage 5.
• Some older pupils still have knowledge gaps from the previous weaker curriculum.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Saltash Community School attended 90.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 14.5% of pupils at Saltash Community School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 8 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Saltash Community School had 15.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.6% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 14.3% of pupils at Saltash Community School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.1% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has a SEN unit with 31 pupils.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Saltash Community School received £8,116 and spent £7,781 for each of its 1,150 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £865,000 (£752 per pupil).

Across all 6 schools of South East Cornwall Multi Academy Regional Trust, income was £8,303 and spending £8,108 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Saltash · Cornwall local authority: places and applications

Saltash Community School is part of South East Cornwall Multi Academy Regional Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Landulph School Saltash
• Looe Community Academy Looe
• Trewidland Primary School Liskeard
• Liskeard School and Community College Liskeard
• Dobwalls Community Primary School Liskeard

What is Saltash Community School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Saltash Community School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Saltash Community School last inspected by Ofsted?

Saltash Community School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Saltash Community School have?

Saltash Community School has 1,139 pupils on roll.

What age range does Saltash Community School cover?

Saltash Community School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Saltash Community School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 40.6, and 30% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Saltash Community School?

Saltash Community School is at Wearde Road, Saltash, Cornwall, PL12 4AY.