Truro College was founded in 1993 as a new college 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. It has assisted the creation of the Ofsted Outstanding Callywith College, a Further Education college in Bodmin which opened in September 2017 and the development of the Stadium for Cornwall in Langarth, Threemilestone, Truro. 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.In 2016 Truro and Penwith College won the Association of Colleges Beacon Award for Leadership and Governance. The College hosts the annual Cornwall Apprenticeship Awards.
In 2019 Truro and Penwith College had its best ever year for academic results. 34 A-level subjects achieved a 100% pass rate, including Maths, English Literature and Psychology, with an overall pass rate of over 99.5%, 88% achieving A*-C, 66% A*-B. With nearly 5,000 individual A and AS level entries this year, Truro and Penwith College is one of the largest providers of the qualification nationally. In Level 3 vocational qualifications, 64% achieved a triple distinction. Over 200 students achieved the highest possible grade, the Triple Distinction Star on BTEC Diploma courses. Truro College was rated the top non-selective provider of the International Baccalaureate Diploma in the UK in the Sunday Times Parent Power league tables, with an average point score per student of 35 in 2019, which is equivalent to three A* grades and one A grade at A Level including one student achieving a perfect score of 45 In 2015 it had the highest A Level points-per-student and value-added progress score in the UK.
2016 Ofsted Inspection
Truro and Penwith College was rated as being Outstanding by Ofsted in 2016, the first FE provider to be awarded this highest designation under the new Ofsted assessment framework, and making it the first college to ever retain an Outstanding rating.
Sport and Academies
In the 2019 Six Nations Rugby Union game between England and Ireland, four of the players on the pitch were graduates from its Rugby Academy, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Nowell, Henry Slade, and Bundee Aki. The Truro College Rugby Academy is an Exeter Chiefs Academy team. The College competes in the AASE league along with the other premiership academies and the Association of Colleges Sport Leagues and Cups and has won the Daily Mail Cup, British Colleges U19 Knock-Out Cup, National 10s and 7s, South West Colleges League, Samurai 7s, AASE League Plate and have been AoC Premier Cup Finalists. 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 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 benefit from world-class training at Chelsea FC throughout the year.
