St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance

St Mary’s Catholic School in Penzance has demonstrated effective actions to maintain the standards set in its previous inspection, with notable strengths in pupil achievement and personal development. The school fosters a positive and safe environment where strong relationships between staff and pupils enhance learning experiences. Overall, pupils perform admirably, particularly considering their starting points, with a positive attitude toward learning and a strong commitment to school values.

Strengths

• Pupils make rapid progress from low starting points.
• Strong relationships between staff and pupils contribute to a safe and supportive environment.
• High academic expectations for all pupils, including those with SEND.
• Broad and balanced curriculum with effective delivery in most subjects.
• High-quality phonics instruction resulting in above-average screening check success rates.
• Effective support for struggling readers promotes a love of reading.
• Strong focus on personal development and life experiences for pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, key knowledge is not precisely identified, leading to gaps in learning.
• Assessment checks do not consistently identify gaps in pupils' understanding in a few subjects.

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 St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance attended 90.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 29.2% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

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, 4.9% of pupils at St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No 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 St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance had 17.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 34.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

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, 23.7% of pupils at St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 8.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

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 primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance received £7,779 and spent £8,225 for each of its 158 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £197,000 (£1,244 per pupil).

Across all 34 schools of Plymouth Cast, income was £8,158 and spending £8,000 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 Penzance · Cornwall local authority: places and applications

St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance is part of Plymouth Cast, which runs 34 schools. The nearest others:

• St John's Catholic Primary School, Camborne Camborne
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Falmouth Falmouth
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Bodmin Bodmin
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• Keyham Barton Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• The Cathedral School of St Mary Plymouth
• St Peter's RC Primary School Plymouth
• Holy Cross Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• St Boniface's RC College Plymouth

What is St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance have?

St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance has 139 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance cover?

St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 63% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance?

St Mary's Catholic School, Penzance is at Peverell Road, Penzance, Cornwall, TR18 2AT.