Pencoed Comprehensive School, Bridgend

Pencoed 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 906 pupils in the 2025/26 school census.

21% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (three-year average).

Of its pupils, 10% have additional learning needs (25% in 2020/21); and 5% are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Year groups range from 54 pupils (Year 12) to 164 (Year 10).

Its delegated budget for 2026-27 works out at £6,939 per pupil, against £5,428 in 2021-22. It ended 2024-25 with a deficit of £159k.

Estyn's report on its September 2024 inspection summarises Pencoed Comprehensive School like this:

"Pencoed Comprehensive School is a caring, inclusive school where the well-being of individuals is prioritised, and diversity celebrated. A strong sense of community and belonging forms a secure foundation for pupils to learn, grow, thrive and flourish. A strength of the school is the way that leadership responsibilities are shared across the school. This enables leaders to prioritise their work effectively and provides opportunities for staff to develop their skills in line with their ambitions. This work to distribute leadership extends to empowering pupils who benefit from a wide variety of opportunities to make a difference to the school through a range of pupil leadership groups."

"There is a valuable emphasis on developing teachers’ practice which has resulted in a culture of professional learning and commitment to improvement. The development and refinement of the use of data has contributed positively to improvement processes. The strong focus on pupil well-being creates a positive environment for learning. Overall, many teachers support pupils well and as a result, many pupils engage with their learning and make secure progress. However, the evaluation of teaching does not always pay enough attention to considering the impact of teachers’ approaches on pupils’ learning, progress and skills."

"As a result, although there are many strengths in teaching, there are fewer examples of excellent practice and strong pupil progress. The school has developed a wide range of beneficial strategies to improving attendance, but despite the school’s work to improve this aspect, rates of attendance remain below pre-pandemic levels. The school hosts a local authority learning resource centre, Tŷ Ewenni, for pupils who have a recognised moderate learning difficulty (MLD). Pupils in the resource centre are well-supported to develop a wide range of learning and life skills. They make good progress from their individual starting points."

Estyn made 2 recommendations: (1) Improve attendance; (2) Sharpen self-evaluation to focus more precisely on the impact of provision on pupils’ learning and skills inspection. Main findings Teaching and learning Nearly all teachers at Pencoed Comprehensive School foster strong working relationships with pupils and know them well. Most teachers create positive environments in their classrooms which enable many pupils to engage well with their learning. They have clear expectations and routines, which ensure good behaviour by many pupils. In these classes, pupils follow their teachers’ instructions promptly and maintain their concentration throughout the lesson. Many discuss ideas sensibly in pairs and groups when given the opportunity to do so. They are eager learners, participating enthusiastically in activities. A few pupils are passive and lack motivation in lessons. These pupils lack sufficient pride in their work, often presenting it poorly and not consistently completing tasks. Most teachers have strong subject knowledge. Many teachers plan lessons with suitable learning intentions, although these are not always precise enough. Their lessons are structured purposefully and include an appropriate variety of tasks. They manage the pace of lessons well and regularly check pupils’ understanding using a variety of questions and techniques which promote discussions. Their learning resources are well structured to meet the needs of pupils and tasks increase in challenge appropriately. Many teachers provide clear explanations and exemplification. As a result, many pupils, including those with Additional Learning Needs (ALN), make at least the expected progress, demonstrating persistence and furthering their knowledge and understanding. They recall prior learning suitably and apply it appropriately to different contexts. In a few cases, pupils make exceptional progress often as a result of particularly effective teaching. In these strongest lessons, teachers are highly enthusiastic and expert in their subject. They plan lessons which focus clearly on developing pupils’ skills, knowledge and conceptual understanding. They produce imaginative and.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Pencoed Comprehensive School are Archbishop McGrath Catholic High School (2.6 miles), Ysgol Llanhari (2.8 miles), Brynteg Comprehensive School (3.6 miles) and Bryntirion Comprehensive School (4 miles).

The nearest railway station is Pencoed Rail Station, about 490 metres away (roughly a 6-minute walk).

7 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Croesty Primary School (opposite), 110 metres away.