Aberbargoed Primary School, Caerphilly

Aberbargoed Primary School is an English-medium school in Wales. Welsh schools are inspected by Estyn rather than Ofsted, and its latest report is published on Estyn's website.

It had 207 pupils in the 2025/26 school census.

38% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (three-year average).

Of its pupils, 11% have additional learning needs (15% in 2020/21); and 7% are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Year groups range from 18 pupils (Year 1) to 32 (Year 4).

Its delegated budget for 2026-27 works out at £4,893 per pupil, against £3,782 in 2021-22. It ended 2024-25 with a deficit of £10k.

Estyn's report on its June 2022 inspection summarises Aberbargoed Primary School like this:

"Aberbargoed Primary School is a highly inclusive school that places a high priority on the well-being of its pupils. Pupils know that all adults in the school care for them and that they can turn to them when they face challenges or have difficulties. As a result of this, the majority of pupils make good progress with their academic and social skills. The valuable, caring ethos that staff have worked so hard to create means that the school was in a strong position to deal with the impact of the pandemic. Effective partnerships with parents and the commitment of staff meant that pupils and their families felt well supported during this time."

"Most pupils make good progress from their starting points and there is suitable provision for pupils with additional learning needs. Overall, pupils make purposeful progress in developing their skills in English and mathematics, but they do not always apply these skills well enough in their topic work. Pupils in the foundation phase benefit from effective provision and are given exceptional opportunities for them to collaborate, experiment and learn through experience. Pupils contribute well to a variety of groups and committees and can give examples of how their work has impacted on the school. The headteacher recognises that work needs to be done around identifying suitable opportunities for improving monitoring and evaluation processes and how staff and pupils will benefit from this."

"Staff roles and responsibilities need to be clarified in order to support improvement. She is aware that standards in teaching from Years 3 to 6 need to be improved and expectations raised. Governors know the school well and provide good support for the newly appointed headteacher. They have a wide range of knowledge and experience that help them carry out their role."

Estyn made 4 recommendations: (1) Address the standards of teaching and low expectations for pupils in Years 3 to 6; (2) Create opportunities to develop pupils' independent skills and further challenge pupils in Years 3 to 6; (3) Ensure that senior leaders robustly monitor and evaluate learning and teaching to identify key areas for improvement; (4) Develop the roles of leaders at every level to secure improvement.

The nearest other state primary schools to Aberbargoed Primary School are St Gwladys Bargoed School (0.3 miles), Ysgol Bro Sannan (0.4 miles), Park Primary School Bargoed (0.6 miles) and Ysgol Gymraeg Gilfach Fargoed (1 mile).

The nearest railway station is Bargoed Rail Station, about 290 metres away (roughly a 4-minute walk).

13 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Bedwellty Home (outside), 120 metres away.