Cape Cornwall School

About Cape Cornwall School

Cape Cornwall School sits within the Cornwall local authority, a secondary state school for mixed pupils aged 11 to 16. Among the 34 schools of the same type in the county, it ranks 13th by Progress 8 score, placing it in the top half of Cornwall’s secondary landscape. For context, the highest-performing local peers are The Roseland Academy, Penrice Academy, and Poltair School, each with notably stronger Progress 8 scores. Cape Cornwall’s own Progress 8 score of -0.08 is slightly below the national average of zero, but it actually outperforms the Cornwall local authority average of -0.12, meaning pupils here make more progress than the typical student across the county. The school is undersubscribed relative to its capacity of 600, with only 284 pupils on roll, yet it was oversubscribed for 2025/26 admissions: 64 first-preference applications were made for 64 places, with 106 total applications overall, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.66.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 rated it Good overall, a significant improvement from its previous Inadequate rating in 2017. All four graded areas — quality of education, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management — were judged Good. At Key Stage 4, the school’s Attainment 8 score is 39.9, and 59% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, though only 25.6% reached grade 5 or above. The EBacc average point score is 3.57, with 76.9% of pupils entering the EBacc combination of subjects. Progress 8 is broadly average nationally, with English showing a slight positive score of +0.1, while maths is weaker at -0.24. The school does not have a sixth form, so pupils move on after Year 11. Compared with the Cornwall LA average Progress 8 of -0.12, Cape Cornwall’s -0.08 is marginally better, and its national percentile rank of 54.6 places it in the middle of all schools in England.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including science labs, art studios, a library, a gymnasium, playing fields, and an astro turf pitch. Sports on offer include athletics, rugby, badminton, swimming, gymnastics, martial arts, and rowing, while extracurricular clubs cover DofE, debate, Model UN, orchestra, and a newspaper. SEND provision is comprehensive, with support for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate and severe learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder, plus a dedicated SEN unit. With 33.8% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a community with above-average disadvantage. For families seeking a small, improving secondary in a coastal Cornish setting, Cape Cornwall School offers a Good-rated education with strong SEND support and a manageable, oversubscribed intake.

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