Ysgol Cae Top, Bangor

Ysgol Cae Top is a Welsh-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 238 pupils in the 2025/26 school census.

16% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (three-year average).

Of its pupils, 13% have additional learning needs (17% in 2020/21); 5% are learning English as an additional language; and 27% are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Year groups range from 28 pupils (Year 6) to 30 (Year 1).

Its delegated budget for 2026-27 works out at £5,498 per pupil, against £4,000 in 2021-22. It carried forward £25k of reserves at the end of 2024-25.

Estyn's report on its June 2024 inspection summarises Ysgol Cae Top like this:

"Ysgol Cae Top is a happy and homely place for pupils, staff and visitors. Staff foster pupils’ pride in the Welsh language and deepen their knowledge of local history and national traditions extremely effectively. There is a warm welcome for all pupils and their families. Pupils enjoy coming to school and are proud to be part of a stimulating and inclusive learning environment. The headteacher and staff take exceptionally good care of pupils and want them to thrive in learning and in life. Most pupils make sound progress in developing their numeracy, English and digital skills from their starting points."

"Many build progressively on their writing skills. However, the culture of reading does not encourage most pupils to enjoy Welsh texts. Pupils also tend to use English and a language for communication and socialising. Together, this limits the development of their Welsh oracy and reading skills. The school has responded proactively and creatively to the requirements of Curriculum for Wales, offering valuable guidance to schools across Wales. The innovative nature of strategic plans provides rich opportunities and experiences for pupils across the school to develop and apply their skills imaginatively."

"Pupils learn about the history, culture and legends of the area and this enriches their learning highly successfully. The headteacher provides strong and compassionate leadership and knows the school very well. He motivates and supports everyone’s professional development and is supported skilfully by all staff. They trust each other to form an effective, successful team. The teaching team works purposefully alongside the governing body to ensure improvements to the school. Together, they understand the school’s strengths and areas for development and plan comprehensive strategic steps to ensure improvement."

Estyn made 2 recommendations: (1) Improve pupils’ use of spoken Welsh and foster a rich reading culture to support pupils’ enjoyment and progress in reading Welsh; (2) Improve attendance.

The nearest other state primary schools to Ysgol Cae Top are Ysgol Ein Harglwyddes (0.8 miles), Ysgol Gynradd y Borth (0.8 miles), Ysgol Y Garnedd (1 mile) and Ysgol Y Faenol (1 mile).

The nearest railway station is Bangor (Gwynedd) Rail Station, about 1200 metres away (roughly a 15-minute walk).

2 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Ffordd Belmont, 380 metres away.