St Buryan Primary School
General Information
- Address: Rectory Road, St Buryan, Penzance, TR19 6BB – View on map
- Phone: 01736810480
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Headteacher Joshua McDonald
- Age range: 2-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 6 families put it first for 7 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 9 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 9
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: None
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 14
- % eligible for free school meals: 28.0%
- Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the Cornwall average)
- English as an additional language: 0% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 11.2% a year (Cornwall 17%, typical in England 13.9%)
- 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. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.
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: 6.1%
- Persistently absent pupils: 23.4%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 18.0%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.6%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Specific learning difficulty: 3 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 3 pupils
- Physical disability: 1 pupil
- Other difficulty or disability: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2023 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 50% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 10 percentage points below the Cornwall average (60%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 57%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 63% · Writing 50% · Maths 88% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 63%
- Average test scores: reading 104, maths 104
- Based on: 8 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 157th of 209 junior and primary schools in the area
- =157Pendeen School50%
- =157Pensans Community Primary School50%
- =157St Buryan Primary School50%
- =157St Kew Academy50%
- =157St Mawes Primary School50%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
96th of 166 primary schools in Cornwall for Ofsted rating
- #94South Petherwin Community Primary SchoolGood
- #95St Breock Primary SchoolGood
- #96St Buryan Primary SchoolGood
- #97St Catherine's CofE Primary SchoolGood
- #98St Cleer Primary AcademyGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £9,172 (2024-25)
30th of 219 primary schools in Cornwall for spending per pupil
- #28St Tudy CofE Primary School£9,257
- #29Manaccan Primary School£9,256
- #30St Buryan Primary School£9,172
- #31Foxhole Learning Academy£9,171
- #32Flushing School£9,127
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)