Mounts Bay Academy

Academy converter·Secondary school Penzance, Cornwall·TR18 3JT
Composite score
54.6
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#1,963
National rank
#192
In South West
#17
In Cornwall
Top 62%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
43.7
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
38%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
66%
% EBacc grade 5+
18%
EBacc average points score
3.82

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
116 first choices, 119 places
First choices per place
0.97
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
315
any preference, for 119 places
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.03
00.511.5
1 per place
1.0020220.9720231.0020241.0020250.972026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put Mounts Bay Academy first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–16
Pupils on roll
975
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
22.1%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
2.2%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
16.3%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
2.0%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
10.4%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
35.2%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
17.3
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£8,078
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
92%
198 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
89%
Apprenticeship
1%
Employment
3%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

School overview

Mounts Bay Academy is a secondary school serving Penzance, Cornwall, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. It has 975 pupils aged 11 to 16 on roll. At its most recent graded inspection, Ofsted rated Mounts Bay Academy 'Good'. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 43.7 — broadly in line with the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has risen by 2.0 points year on year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

38% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, below the national average of about 45%. 66% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made Mounts Bay Academy their first choice was offered one of its 119 Year 7 places. After Year 11, 92% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 10.4%. There are about 17.3 pupils per teacher. When comparing schools, it is still worth visiting in person to see whether the atmosphere and approach suit your child. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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