Truro and Penwith College is a

further education college Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England.

History

Truro College was founded in 1993 in Gloweth near Threemilestone,

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

, to replace the Truro Sixth Form College. Penwith College was founded in 1980 in

Penzance Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...

, and was known until 1990 as Penwith Sixth Form College. It then became a

tertiary college In England and Wales, a tertiary college is a type of further education (FE) college that offers both academic and vocational courses to both teenagers and adults, combining the main functions of an FE college and a sixth form college. Unlike a si ...

named Penwith College. The decision to merge the two colleges was made in 2006, with the merger completed in 2008. It has assisted in the creation of Callywith College, a

Further Education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

college in

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordered ...

, which opened in September 2017. In 2004, a set of

triplets A multiple birth is the culmination of a multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such births ...

who were students at the college became the first complete set of triplets to obtain admission to the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. The Rick Stein Academy was launched in 2015 as a partnership between the

Rick Stein Christopher Richard Stein, (born 4 January 1947) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur, writer and television presenter. Along with business partner (and first wife) Jill Stein, he runs the Stein hotel and restaurant business in the UK. T ...

Group and Truro and Penwith College. In June 2021, the college was one of the ten institutions that the

University and College Union The University and College Union (UCU) is a British trade union in further and higher education representing over 120,000 academics and support staff. UCU is a vertical union representing casualised researchers and teaching staff, "permanent" ...

opened ballots for

industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increas ...

in over pay, working conditions and compulsory redundancies. In 2022, a new building, called 'Valency', was opened on the Truro campus as part of the South West Institute of Technology. In 2023,

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...

, the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

at the time, visited the new building as part of his visit to Cornwall.

Courses

The college offers various

further Further or furthur, alternatively farther, may refer to: * ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus *Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band *Furthur (band) Furthur was an American rock band founded in 2009 by former G ...

and

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

courses. The college offers PGCE, CertEd and Cornwall SCITT teacher training courses. Cornwall SCITT (School Centred Initial Teacher Training), is 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.

Results and academics

It was the first tertiary college to be awarded 'Outstanding' status, the highest designation by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

in 2006, and the first to retain an Outstanding rating, in 2016. It has been recognised as the top non-selective provider of the

International Baccalaureate Diploma The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry int ...

in the UK, the best provider of Hair and Beauty apprenticeships in the UK, having the highest A Level points-per-student and value-added progress score in the UK, and having its students get the highest marks in the country for several subjects.

Sport and academies

In the 2019 Six Nations

Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

game between

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, four of the players on the pitch were graduates from the college's rugby academy: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Nowell, Henry Slade, and Bundee Aki. The Truro College Rugby Academy is an

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

Academy team. The Academy team has played in the Sanix Tournament against the other under-18s rugby teams from around the world.

Notable alumni

* Bundee Aki, Ireland rugby player *

Molly Caudery Molly Caudery (born 17 March 2000) is a British athlete who competes in the pole vault event for England and Great Britain. Caudery is the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships, 2024 World Indoor champion. She was also a silver medalist at ...

, Pole Vaulter * Luke Cowan-Dickie, England rugby player * Josh Matavesi, Fiji rugby player * Sam Matavesi, Fiji rugby player * Jack Nowell, England rugby player *

Ben Oliver Ben Oliver is a British comics artist who has worked for '' 2000 AD'' on ''Judge Dredd'' as well as providing art for '' The Authority'', '' The Losers'', and ''Ultimate X-Men''. Biography Ben Oliver lives in Bristol, his first professional wo ...

, Athlete, Wheelchair Racer

References

External links

Truro and Penwith College website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Truro and Penwith College Further education colleges in Cornwall Truro Penzance International Baccalaureate schools in England Educational institutions established in 2008 2008 establishments in England