Cynffig Comprehensive School, Bridgend

Cynffig Comprehensive 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 768 pupils in the 2025/26 school census.

32% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (three-year average).

Of its pupils, 9% have additional learning needs (21% in 2020/21); and 4% are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Year groups range from 30 pupils (Year 13) to 153 (Year 8).

Its delegated budget for 2026-27 works out at £7,352 per pupil, against £5,835 in 2021-22. It carried forward £359k of reserves at the end of 2024-25.

Estyn's report on its March 2026 inspection summarises Cynffig Comprehensive School like this:

"The strong, respectful relationships between staff and pupils are a notable feature of Cynffig Comprehensive School. This contributes well to its welcoming, inclusive ethos that is underpinned by the ‘Cynffig Culture’. As a result, most pupils are respectful to peers, teachers and visitors. They behave well and have positive attitudes to learning. In many lessons, teaching is effective. In these lessons teachers engage pupils well and ensure that they make secure progress in their learning. However, in a minority of lessons there is not always enough challenge, and this limits pupils from making as much progress as they could. Teachers use a range of effective approaches to support pupils’ literacy development. Many pupils speak confidently and explain their ideas clearly."

"The school has established a strong, inclusive reading culture that is embedded consistently in daily practice; for example, through regular shared reading and by structured discussion during registration. This ensures that all pupils, including those eligible for free school meals, benefit from frequent exposure to high-quality texts. Across the curriculum, there are a few useful opportunities for pupils to apply their numeracy skills, but opportunities are not always purposeful. Although the school provides suitable support for pupils with very weak numeracy skills, leaders do not plan for or coordinate the provision for the progressive development of pupils’ numeracy skills well-enough. Pupils benefit from a broad and relevant curriculum which includes a range of purposeful partnerships to strengthen its sixth form offer. There are well-considered opportunities for pupils to develop their understanding of diversity and cultures through, for example, the use of relevant contemporary literature across the curriculum. The school fosters a strong culture of care, support and inclusion. Effective pastoral systems and targeted support such as the ‘Wellness Centre’ and ‘Tŷ Dawel’ have had a positive impact on helping pupils to manage their behaviour successfully. Leaders also support pupils with additional learning needs (ALN) effectively."

"In the Specialist Resource Centre (SRC), structured teaching and strong support enable pupils to make strong progress and develop their independence. The headteacher provides highly reflective, purposeful leadership and, with the senior leadership team, has established a strong culture based on the school’s values of ‘challenge, commit, succeed’. Leaders support staff well, promote high morale and use a wide range of information and quality assurance activities to understand the school’s work and identify priorities for improvement. Leaders have established an appropriate range of self-evaluation processes, however they do not focus closely enough on evaluating the impact these have on pupil progress. Leaders have worked diligently to mitigate the impact of poverty on educational attainment. As a result, the attendance of pupils eligible for free school meals in 2024-2025 was well above that of similar schools and attendance nationally. Additionally, over the last three years, the performance of those Year 11 pupils eligible for free school meals is generally above their counterparts in similar schools."

Estyn made 3 recommendations: (1) Refine self-evaluation and improvement planning processes so that leaders focus precisely on the impact of teaching and provision on pupil progress; (2) Strengthen the quality of teaching so that pupils are consistently challenged to make stronger progress in a minority of lessons; (3) Improve the quality and coordination of the provision to develop pupils’ numeracy skills.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Cynffig Comprehensive School are Coleg Cymunedol Y Dderwen (3.4 miles), Porthcawl Comprehensive School (3.6 miles), Bryntirion Comprehensive School (3.7 miles) and Ysgol Cwm Brombil (4.4 miles).

The nearest railway station is Pyle Rail Station, about 1170 metres away (roughly a 15-minute walk).