Ysgol Godre'r Berwyn, Bala

Ysgol Godre'r Berwyn 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 564 pupils in the 2025/26 school census.

8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (three-year average).

Of its pupils, 9% have additional learning needs; and 5% are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Year groups range from 14 pupils (Year 1) to 78 (Year 8).

Its delegated budget for 2026-27 works out at £7,244 per pupil, against £5,075 in 2021-22. It carried forward £456k of reserves at the end of 2024-25.

Estyn's report on its October 2023 inspection summarises Ysgol Godre'r Berwyn like this:

"Ysgol Godre’r Berwyn is a caring community in which most pupils feel safe and valued. Nearly all pupils behave very well in classes, during leisure time and as they move around the school. They are kind to adults and each other. The school has an excellent Welsh ethos and many pupils make sound progress in developing Welsh language skills during their time at the school and becoming confident communicators. They also develop suitable literacy skills in English but, overall, pupils’ ability to write extended pieces in English is hindered by a lack of opportunities to do so. Many pupils make suitable progress in developing numeracy and digital skills."

"However, teachers do not plan opportunities cohesively enough to enable pupils to apply the full range of these skills and build on previous learning over time. In the strongest cases, teachers present engaging lessons by using interesting prompts, such as video clips, to ignite pupils’ enthusiasm. The youngest pupils also benefit from a wide range of hands-on activities, which provide valuable opportunities to apply their skills. Where teaching is not strong, teachers do not give enough consideration to the needs of all learners when planning, including those pupils with additional learning needs (ALN). The headteachers is a positive role model who shows a clear vision for the school and succeeds in creating a welcoming learning environment for pupils. The effect of leaders on other aspects of the school’s work varies."

"They have not yet succeeded in having a sufficient influence to ensure consistency in the school’s work across the age range. For example, they have not had enough of an impact on planning progress in pupils’ skills across the school or evaluating and monitoring attendance levels. In addition, improvement planning processes are not always clear and specific enough to ensure timely progress. Expectations and lines of accountability are also not clear enough. The school is a lead school for initial teacher education."

Estyn made 4 recommendations: (1) Strengthen leadership at all levels and ensure that responsibilities are distributed sensibly and that there is a clear structure of accountability; (2) Strengthen the effectiveness of improvement planning processes; (3) Co-ordinate and improve provision to develop pupils’ skills; (4) Strengthen processes for monitoring and promoting attendance to raise attendance levels.

The nearest tram or metro stop is Bala (Bala Lake Railway), about 0.8 miles away in a straight line.

5 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Ysgol y Berwen (before), 70 metres away.