Sandy Hill Academy
General Information
- Address: Sandy Hill, St Austell, PL25 3AT – View on map
- Phone: 0172675858
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mr Antony Fugill
- Age range: 3-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 53 families put it first for 56 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 13 · 2024 12 · 2025 12 · 2026 9
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 85
- % eligible for free school meals: 19.2%
- Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (similar to the Cornwall average)
- English as an additional language: 3% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 6.8% a year (Cornwall 17%, typical in England 13.9%) Low turnover
- Where they went: about 0% moved to another school, 100% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
- Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)
Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across Cornwall: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 8 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 9 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 1 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
- Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)
These are figures for all state primary schools in Cornwall, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.
Attendance
- Overall absence: 3.9%
- Persistently absent pupils: 6.1%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 17.1%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.6%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Speech, language and communications needs: 34 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 16 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 15 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 8 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 14 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil
- Physical disability: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Outstanding 2023 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 72% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 7% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 12 percentage points above the Cornwall average (60%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Above (3-year average 70% against an expected 61%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 70%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 80% · Writing 77% · Maths 80% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 68%
- Average test scores: reading 105, maths 104
- Based on: 60 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25
View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.
SATs results over time
Year 6 SATs: joint 43rd of 209 junior and primary schools in the area
- =40Menheniot Primary School73%
- =40Whitemoor Academy73%
- =43Sandy Hill Academy72%
- =43St Breock Primary School72%
- =43St Day and Carharrack Community School72%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
2nd of 166 primary schools in Cornwall for Ofsted rating
- #1Newquay Primary AcademyOutstanding
- #2Sandy Hill AcademyOutstanding
- #3St Agnes AcademyOutstanding
- #4Altarnun Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £5,233 (2024-25)
216th of 219 primary schools in Cornwall for spending per pupil
- #214St Agnes Academy£5,337
- #215Marhamchurch CofE Academy£5,293
- #216Sandy Hill Academy£5,233
- #217King Charles Church of England Primary School£4,998
- #218Goonhavern Primary School£4,842
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)