Ebbw Fawr Learning Community, Ebbw Vale

Ebbw Fawr Learning Community 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 1467 pupils in the 2025/26 school census.

24% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (three-year average).

Of its pupils, 4% have additional learning needs (21% in 2020/21); 2% are learning English as an additional language; and 9% are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Year groups range from 27 pupils (Year 3) to 244 (Year 7).

Its delegated budget for 2026-27 works out at £7,060 per pupil, against £5,368 in 2021-22. It ended 2024-25 with a deficit of £869k.

Estyn's report on its November 2023 inspection summarises Ebbw Fawr Learning Community like this:

"Staff in Ebbw Fawr Learning Community are committed to the school’s vision of creating a safe, secure and caring environment to ensure that pupils are ‘learning to achieve together’. This vision is communicated clearly by the headteacher who is a strong role model that has high expectations of himself and others. Leaders work well with each other and succeed in creating an ethos across the school sites that encapsulates the ‘Ebbw Fawr Way’ of being ‘Ready, Respectful and Safe’. Promoting pupil well-being is central to the school’s work and it has an extensive range of provision to support pupils in an inclusive and supportive environment. This contributes towards its pupils feeling safe in school and displaying a positive attitude towards their work and school life. A positive feature of the school is the numerous opportunities it provides for pupils to take on leadership roles."

"Most teachers plan and adapt work that meets the needs of nearly all pupils. They engage pupils in their learning, provide valuable experiences that relate to their everyday lives and successfully remove barriers to learning. As a result, most pupils in primary phase and many pupils in the secondary phase, including those with additional learning needs (ALN) and those eligible for free school meals make at least suitable progress over time. Whilst there are good opportunities for pupils to develop their oracy and reading skills, they do not write at length often or purposefully enough. Teachers promote positive behaviour well and there are robust arrangements to promote good attendance. The Ebbw Vale Engage (‘EVE’) programme ensures that a few pupils in danger of disengagement attend regularly and benefit from alternative off-site provision."

"Although attendance at the time of the inspection remains lower than before the pandemic it has improved significantly over the last few months. The learning resource base (LRB) successfully supports secondary pupils with a range of significant additional educational needs to make sound progress and attend school regularly. Leaders mitigate the effect of poverty on pupils’ attainment and well-being effectively. They monitor and evaluate the school’s work carefully and implement changes effectively. They use the opinions of pupils and parents well to make improvements to provision, especially for pupils’ well-being. However, when evaluating teaching, leaders do not always consider the impact on pupils’ progress well enough"

Estyn made 2 recommendations: (1) Sharpen self-evaluation processes to focus more specifically on the impact of teaching on learning; (2) Provide more opportunities for pupils to develop their writing skills and write at length for authentic purposes.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Ebbw Fawr Learning Community are Tredegar Comprehensive School (1.7 miles), Brynmawr Foundation School (2.8 miles), Idris Davies School 3 to 18 (3.6 miles) and Abertillery Learning Community (3.9 miles).

The nearest railway station is Ebbw Vale Town Rail Station, about 500 metres away (roughly a 6-minute walk).

17 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Penuel Square (near), 170 metres away.