Truro and Penwith College plans to develop a new post-16 campus to serve the north and east of Cornwall have been given the green light by the Department for Education.

The DfE has offered endorsement and support for plans to establish a free school for 16 to 19-year-olds on the College’s new Callywith campus.

Projected recruitment and demand suggest that within five years of its opening more than 1,200 Cornish students aged 16-19 could be benefitting annually.

David Walrond, Principal of Truro and Penwith College, said: ‘There are large, poorly-served areas of Cornwall which need new post-16 opportunities to achieve better results for individual learners, and the much needed improved socio-economic prospects for their localities which these will deliver. Today’s news from the Secretary of State is therefore a huge boost for Cornwall. This free school offer is a vote of confidence in the post-16 record of the College and in its future plans.’