Adamsdown Primary School, Cardiff

Adamsdown 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 339 pupils in the 2025/26 school census.

56% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (three-year average).

Of its pupils, 6% have additional learning needs (22% in 2020/21); 71% are learning English as an additional language; and 83% are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Year groups range from 30 pupils (Reception) to 47 (Year 5).

Estyn's report on its May 2023 inspection summarises Adamsdown Primary School like this:

"Staff at Adamsdown Primary School create a warm and welcoming place where its diverse school community thrive. Pupils are ambitious, respectful and very happy. They settle into school quickly, love learning and benefit greatly from the school’s highly effective approach to language acquisition. With a significant proportion of pupils coming from countries affected by conflict, the school’s School of Sanctuary status is firmly at the heart of its work. Teachers, leaders, support staff and governors are committed to providing the support each pupil needs to access the curriculum, beginning with well-being and emotional support. The strong partnership with parents and nurturing ethos of the school ensure that all pupils feel safe and develop a strong sense of belonging."

"The school’s effective partnerships with its community also contribute to its success in supporting pupils’ well-being and providing an engaging curriculum. Throughout the school, pupils make very good progress in most aspects of their learning. They are highly involved in choosing what and how they learn and, by the end of their time at the school, they develop a sophisticated understanding of their progress, and can explain clearly what, how and why they learn the concepts they cover. They relate their learning to the paths they will follow in future, building on the authentic learning opportunities teachers plan and the wide range of valuable experiences they encounter. The thoughtful approach to meeting pupils’ individual needs improves their life chances and raises their aspiration. The school’s work on human rights and relationships provides pupils with a comprehensive understanding of equity, justice and empathy."

"Pupils develop their knowledge of their locality and the heritage and culture of Wales well, but opportunities for them to use the Welsh language regularly to improve their skills are limited. Leaders support all staff to continuously develop their professional knowledge to improve their practice. This is a strength of the school and, as a result, staff make valuable contributions to the continuous improvement and effective evaluation of the school’s work. Although they share their work with partner schools, leaders do not yet share their approach to curriculum development more widely to support other schools with this important reform."

Estyn made 2 recommendations: (1) Improve standards in Welsh; (2) Share the school’s effective practice more widely.

From the headteacher's welcome: "We are a diverse and inclusive school in the centre of Cardiff. Adamsdown Primary School first opened in 1875 with our current school building opening in 1980. It was extended again in 2010 and 2016 to house the ever increasing pupil population. Adamsdown Primary is recognised as a warm, welcoming and friendly school."

The school runs after-school care.

The nearest other state primary schools to Adamsdown Primary School are Tredegarville C.I.W. Primary School (0.2 miles), St Peter's R.C. Primary School (0.2 miles), Stacey Primary School (0.5 miles) and Moorland Primary School (0.7 miles).

The nearest railway station is Cardiff Queen Street Rail Station, about 700 metres away (roughly a 9-minute walk).

19 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Constellation Street (o/s school), 140 metres away.