To investigate the influence of chemical pressure on the e g orbital occupation and the spin state of Co 3þ ions, which are closely related to electrochemical reaction of catalysts for energy storage applications, we have prepared a new material Sr 1.7 Ca 0.3 CoO 3 F, which was previously predicted to possess an intermediate-spin (IS) state with e g 1 configuration. Our experimental Co-L 2,3 X-ray absorption spectrum of Sr 1.7 Ca 0.3 CoO 3 F was very similar to those of the high-spin (HS) Co 3þ references Sr 2 CoO 3 F and Sr 2 CoO 3 Cl indicating an HS Co 3þ ground state. The HS-Co 3þ ground state in Sr 1.7 Ca 0.3 CoO 3 F was further confirmed by using O-K XAS spectra and theoretical simulation of the Co-L 2,3 XAS spectra with configuration-interaction cluster calculations. We present theoretical energy diagrams of three spin states for Co 3þ ions in Sr 2 CoO 3 F as a function of external pressure based on the crystal structures observed in a previous high-pressure study. We have also investigated the structural conditions that are required to stabilize the IS state in this effective local pyramidal structure theoretically, and found that the in-plane Co-O distance (<1.88 Å) and the out-of-plane Co displacement (<0.18 Å) are critical conditions for obtaining the IS-Co 3þ ground state.