Truro and Penwith College

History

Truro College was founded in 1993 as a new college on a new-build campus in Gloweth near Threemilestone, Truro, Cornwall, to replace the Truro Sixth Form College. Penwith College was founded in 1980 in Penzance, and was known until 1990 as Penwith Sixth Form College. The two colleges merged in 2008, and a £30 million programme of investment resulted in many new state-of-the-art buildings on the Penwith campus, while the opening of new facilities on the Truro campus also continued.

Truro and Penwith College is associated with Callywith College and the Stadium for Cornwall, both of which it will help develop.

The Rick Stein Academy was launched in 2015 as a partnership between the Rick Stein Group and Truro and Penwith College. In 2016 it was recognized as a Top 100 Apprenticeship Employer nationally.

The College hosts the annual Cornwall Apprenticeship Awards.

The original principal of Truro College, and later Truro and Penwith College, was Jonathan Burnett. He retired in 2010, succeeded by David Walrond.

In 2016 Truro and penwith College won the Association of Colleges Beacon Award for Leadership and Governance.

Courses and Applications

Truro and Penwith College’s courses include Further Education such as A Levels, Vocational Qualifications (including BTEC Diplomas, National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) and Apprenticeships), Foundation Studies, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma; Higher Education such as Honours Degrees, Foundation Degrees, Higher National Diplomas, education qualifications, other professional qualifications; a large range of part-time and evening courses, and its ‘Spark’ business start-up support.

As of 2016 its range of courses includes 223 Further Education courses for ages 16–18, 65 University Level Courses, 55 Apprenticeship programmes, 368 part-time and evening courses, and 200 business training options.

Applications can be done through schools or direct to the College.

Teacher training is done at the College, on PGCE, CertEd and Cornwall SCITT courses. Cornwall SCITT (School Centred Initial Teacher Training, a partnership of 16 local secondary schools, one special school and Truro and Penwith College, offering postgraduate teacher training to the 11-16 age range, with post-16 enhancements) retained its own Offsted Outstanding rating in 2016.

Results

In its 2016 A Level results, a total of 225 A* grades were awarded. 119 students achieved three or more grade As or A*s, and nineteen achieved four straight grade As or A*s. 87% of students passed with grades A-C (compared to national A-C grade pass rate of 78%). The overall pass rate was over 99%. A 100% pass rate achieved in 39 A Level subjects.

In its 2016 International Baccalaureate Diploma results, the average score was 36 points, equivalent in ucas points to A*A*A A at A Level. 25% of the IB cohort got 40 points or above, equivalent to more than four A*s at A Level. One student scored 45 out of 45. Truro and Penwith College is the top provider of the International Baccalaureate Diploma in the UK, according to 2015 Sunday Times Parent Power league tables.

2016 was the College’s best year for vocational results ever. 228 students achieved the Triple Distinction-Star, the highest grade possible on BTEC Extended Diploma courses. Over 400 students achieved at least a Triple Distinction (equivalent to 3 A grades at A Level) on BTEC Extended Diploma courses. This was 61% of students taking the qualification. The national average is 35%.

In 2015 Truro and Penwith College was the top FE/Tertiary college in the UK for A Level points per student and for value-added A Level score. Its 2015 A Level results were its most successful ever with an A Level pass rate of 99.5 per cent (versus the 98.1%. national average) and an A Level grade A-C pass rate of 87 per cent (against a 77.3% national average). In 41 subjects the College achieved a 100% pass rate. The number of A and A* grades at A Level was 32.4% (versus 25.9% nationally). 140 Truro and Penwith College students achieved three or more grade As or A*s.

In 2016 seventeen Truro and Penwith College students were offered places at Oxford or Cambridge.

In 2012 two of its students got the highest marks in the country for their respective A Level subjects, English Language and Law.

2016 Ofsted Inspection

Truro and Penwith College was rated as being Outstanding by Ofsted in 2016. Key judgments such as ’16 to 19 Study Programmes’, 'Outcomes for Learners', 'Quality of Teaching', 'Personal Development, Behaviour and Welfare' and 'The Effectiveness of Leadership and Management' are all given Outstanding Grade 1, the highest possible rating.

Sport and Academies

Two of its former students Jack Nowell and Luke Cowan-Dickie played in the England national rugby union team to win the Grand Slam in the 2016 Six Nations Championship, and in the victorious 2016 England rugby union tour of Australia. Fiji Rugby international Josh Matavesi is also a recent graduate of the Truro College Rugby Academy.

The Truro College Rugby Academy is an Exeter Chiefs Academy team. The College competes in the AASE league along with the other premiership academies (Wasps, Leicester, Sale, London Irish and Gloucester), and the Association of Colleges Sport Leagues and Cups. In recent seasons the College has won the Daily Mail Cup, British Colleges U19 Knock-Out Cup, National 10s and 7s, South West Colleges League and Samurai 7s. The most recent success was winning the AASE League Plate at Allianz Park in 2014 and were AoC Premier Cup Finalists in 2016. Rugby Academy players regularly sign for teams such as the Exeter Chiefs, Cornish Pirates, Redruth R.F.C. or Cornish All-Blacks before their studies at the College have finished. The Academy team plays in the Sanix Tournament in Japan against the other best under-18s rugby teams from around the world.

The Truro College Netball Academy team were 2016 Super League Playoff Winners. They were also South West Superleague Winners, County Under-19 Champions, AOC National College Finals Bronze medallists, Under-19 Schools Championships SW bronze medal winners, South West College Tournament winners, and had two girls in the AOC National Colleges squad.

The Badminton Academy team were 2016 Association of Colleges (AoC) National Cup Winners, won the AoC Ladies Doubles Gold, AoC Men's Singles Silver and placed fourth in the AoC Men's Doubles.

The Penwith Football Development Programme team were 2015/16 Cornwall Schools FA U18 League Cup Winners. The Penwith College Football team won the league and cup double in 2011–12, winning Division Two of the British Colleges’ Sport League and the Cornwall Schools’ FA under-18 Cup in two unbeaten campaigns.

The Truro College Football Development program is in association with the Chelsea F.C. Foundation. Truro and Penwith College’s football teams play in official Chelsea kits, and students and coaches in the Academy benefit from world-class training at Chelsea FC throughout the year.

Wheelchair racing European record-holder Ben Oliver was a student at the College, breaking several Cornish records while there.

The range of Sports Academies (taken in addition to full-time studies) at the College includes: Badminton, Basketball, Cricket, Elite Academy (for solo-competitor sports or military fitness and psychology), Football, Golf, Hockey, Netball, Rugby, Surf, Swimming, Tennis, Women’s Football, Women’s Rugby.

Non-sport-related Academies available include: Academic Academy, Computing Academy, Medics Academy, Music Academy and the Young Enterprise Academy.

Trivia

In 2016 it won the Association of Colleges Beacon Award for Leadership and Governance.

In its 2016 A Level results, a total of 225 A* grades were awarded to the College, with 119 students achieving three or more grade As or A*s. In its 2016 International Baccalaureate Diploma results, the average score was 36 points, equivalent in ucas points to A*A*A A at A Level. 25% of the IB cohort got 40 points or above, equivalent to more than four A*s at A Level. One student scored 45 out of 45. On its vocational courses in 2016, 228 students achieved the Triple Distinction-Star, the highest grade possible on BTEC Extended Diploma courses. Over 400 students achieved at least a Triple Distinction (equivalent to 3 A grades at A Level) on BTEC Extended Diploma courses. In 2016 seventeen Truro and Penwith College students were offered places at Oxford or Cambridge.

In 2015 Truro and Penwith College was the top FE/Tertiary college in the UK for A Level points per student and for value-added A Level score. It is the top provider of the International Baccalaureate Diploma in the UK, according to 2015 Sunday Times Parent Power league tables. In 2012 two of its students got the highest marks in the country for their respective A Level subjects, English Language and Law.

Two of its former students Jack Nowell and Luke Cowan-Dickie played in the England national rugby union team to win the Grand Slam in the 2016 Six Nations Championship, and in the victorious 2016 England rugby union tour of Australia.

Truro College was the first Further Education or Tertiary College in the UK to ever be awarded 'Outstanding' status by Ofsted, in 2006. Truro College opened in 1993 and merged with Penwith College in 2008. The principal is David Walrond.

It is assisting in the creation of Callywith College, a new Further Education college in Bodmin due to open in September 2017 to “provide the outstanding Truro and Penwith College experience for up to 1280 young people in Bodmin and North and East Cornwall” and which will be funded as a Free School.

It is also one of the developers of the Stadium for Cornwall in Langarth, Threemilestone, Truro.