Mounts Bay Academy

About Mounts Bay Academy

Mounts Bay Academy is a mixed state secondary in Cornwall, currently home to 975 pupils against a capacity of 1,020, meaning it operates close to full but with a small margin of spare places. The school serves a community with a notably high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals, at 21.8 per cent, which is well above the national average for secondary schools and signals a significant level of socio-economic disadvantage in its intake. Demand for places is strong: for the 2025/26 academic year, the school received 312 applications for 163 places, an oversubscription ratio of 1.91, and all first-preference applicants were offered a place. This suggests that while the school is popular locally, families who put it first are likely to secure a spot. The headteacher, Simeon Royle, leads a school with no sixth form, so pupils leave at 16, and the religious character is listed as not applicable.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in December 2021 rated it Good overall, with Good marks for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This represents a step down from its previous inspection in 2012, when it was rated Outstanding. In the 2023/24 exam results, the school’s Progress 8 score was -0.56, which is well below average nationally and ranks it 30th out of 31 schools in Cornwall, placing it in the bottom 50 per cent of schools across the country. The local authority average Progress 8 score is -0.12, so Mounts Bay is performing significantly below its peers in the area. Attainment 8 stood at 41.7, and 53.6 per cent of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, compared with 33.2 per cent at grade 5 or above. The EBacc average point score was 3.66, with 32.1 per cent of pupils entering the EBacc combination.

The school offers a range of facilities including a theatre, tennis courts, a dining hall, ICT suite, library, music rooms, and a chapel, though there is no sixth form centre in use as the school does not run a sixth form. Sports provision includes swimming, football, badminton, martial arts, rowing, hockey, cricket, and cross country, and extracurricular clubs such as Model UN, DofE, orchestra, art club, and eco club are available. For pupils with additional needs, the school lists support for a wide range of SEND categories, including specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, multi-sensory impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. Given its oversubscription but first-preference guarantee, this school is likely to suit families in the local area who prioritise a Good-rated, inclusive secondary with strong demand and a broad extracurricular offer, though the academic outcomes are below the local average.

Key Details

Frequently Asked Questions About Mounts Bay Academy

Helpful Guides for Parents