Ysgol Y Moelwyn, Gwynedd

Ysgol Y Moelwyn 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 351 pupils in the 2025/26 school census.

17% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (three-year average).

Of its pupils, 29% have additional learning needs; and 4% are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Year groups range from 60 pupils (Year 11) to 87 (Year 9).

Its delegated budget for 2026-27 works out at £8,250 per pupil, against £5,990 in 2021-22. It carried forward £924k of reserves at the end of 2024-25.

Estyn's report on its April 2026 inspection summarises Ysgol Y Moelwyn like this:

"Ysgol y Moelwyn is a warm, caring and inclusive community where secure relationships between staff and pupils are at the heart of its success. A strong ethos of promoting responsibility, respect and co-operation, based on ‘Ffordd Ffestiniog’, permeates all aspects of school life effectively. As a result, pupils feel safe, are respected and develop a strong sense of belonging to their school and their community. Local and community pride are reflected clearly in most pupils’ positive attitudes to their learning, their excellent behaviour and their confident use of the Welsh language as a natural language of communication. One of the school’s notable strengths is the quality of relationships and the culture of respect and co-operation within lessons. Most teachers know their pupils well and provide them with effective support and guidance. This enables many pupils, including those with additional learning needs (ALN), to make sound progress. In a minority of lessons, teaching is particularly effective as a result of skilful planning, high expectations and probing questioning. In these lessons, pupils make strong progress. However, in a few cases, teachers’ expectations are not high enough and a lack of challenge and focus on developing subject knowledge limits pupils’ progress."

"Provision to develop pupils’ literacy skills is a strength. There is purposeful planning to ensure regular opportunities to develop reading, writing and oracy skills across the curriculum. As a result, many pupils read and write effectively for a range of purposes and use rich vocabulary, including dialectal elements that reflect their local area. However, a minority of pupils make repeated linguistic errors and rely on structural support on their written work. Opportunities for pupils to develop their numeracy skills in suitable subjects across the curriculum are limited. Although many pupils have sound basic number skills, provision to develop numeracy skills across the subjects is in its early days. There are not enough opportunities for pupils to solve problems, reason mathematically or apply their number skills in new contexts. The development of pupils’ digital skills is sound, on the whole. Many pupils use technology appropriately and develop their digital skills effectively in a range of contexts. The curriculum is relevant to pupils and reflects and celebrates the culture, heritage and unique context of the area successfully."

"Rich learning experiences, including interesting educational visits and working with partners, broaden pupils’ horizons and foster pride in their ‘cynefin’, or local area. The school places a clear emphasis on pupils’ well-being. There are robust pastoral systems, effective support and comprehensive provision for pupils, which ensure that they receive the appropriate support to make progress and develop as confident individuals. The school uses effective strategies to support and monitor the attendance of specific groups. As a result, pupils’ attendance has improved over time and compares favourably with that of similar schools. The headteacher is an effective leader who promotes a clear vision, which is upheld and shared successfully by the whole school community. A strong culture of listening to the voice of pupils, staff and parents leads to meaningful improvements and this is a particular strength. The various pupil forums influence key aspects of school life effectively and enable pupils to develop as confident and dedicated citizens. Although leaders use a range of quality assurance procedures and plan purposefully for improvement, the use of data is not always incisive enough to inform self-evaluation and improvement priorities specifically enough."

Estyn made 3 recommendations: (1) Strengthen self-evaluation processes, particularly the use of data, to ensure that improvement priorities are incisive enough; (2) Ensure co-ordinated provision to develop numeracy in relevant subjects; (3) Disseminate the strong teaching practices seen in the best lessons to ensure consistency in the quality of teaching across the school.

The nearest railway station is Blaenau Ffestiniog Rail Station, about 320 metres away (roughly a 4-minute walk).

9 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Ysgol y Moelwyn (after), 130 metres away.