Herbert Thompson Primary
Herbert Thompson Primary is a council school in Cardiff for pupils aged 3 to 11. It has 463 pupils. Teaching is in English.
Plymouth Wood Road, Ely, Cardiff, CF5 4XD029 2056 1115Mrs D Lewis headteacherAll details
Inspection
Schools in Wales are inspected by Estyn, not Ofsted. Since September 2022 Estyn's reports describe what a school does well and what it needs to work on, without giving a grade.
Estyn's latest report, and any follow-up visits, are on Estyn's website. The only schools given a formal label are those in special measures or needing significant improvement.
Results
Wales stopped publishing results for individual primary schools in 2019, so there are none to show. Attendance, pupil numbers and staffing below come from the Welsh Government's My Local School.
Getting a place
There is no entrance test. The council hands out the places. Brothers and sisters of current pupils and other priority groups go first; after that, the closer you live, the better your chances.
Teaching is in English.
You apply through Cardiff council, not the school.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Year | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 57.6% | 61.4% | 62.1% | 60.6% | 57.0% | 52.6% |
| Pupils getting extra supportAdditional learning needs (ALN) | 9.0% | 7.0% | 8.0% | 24.8% | 37.1% | 34.5% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 21.3% | 22.2% | 19.8% | 17.4% | 13.1% | 13.5% |
| Black, Asian and minority ethnic pupilsBAME pupils | 42.7% | 41.1% | 39.0% | 36.9% | 33.6% | 33.7% |
Attendance
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 90.6% of the time. Across primary schools in Wales it was 92.8%. Wales doesn't publish figures on pupils who miss a lot of school, or on exclusions, for individual schools.
Staff and budget
From the Welsh Government's My Local School, 2025/26.
The budget is the money the council gave the school to spend per pupil in 2025/26, £677 less than the Welsh average for primary schools. Small and rural schools tend to get more per pupil.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairwater Primary School | Council | 560 m | 159 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| Millbank Primary School | Council | 750 m | 251 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| Windsor Clive Primary School | Council | 980 m | 469 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| Trelai Primary School | Council | 0.6 miles | 329 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| St Francis V.A. Primary School | Roman Catholic | 0.7 miles | 332 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| Pentrebane Primary School | Council | 0.9 miles | 199 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| Peter Lea Primary School | Council | 0.9 miles | 303 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| Ysgol Gymraeg Coed-Y-Gof | Council | 0.9 miles | 188 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Herbert Thompson Primary a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score Herbert Thompson Primary yet.
How many pupils does Herbert Thompson Primary have?
463 pupils aged 3 to 11.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Plymouth Wood Road, Ely, Cardiff, CF5 4XD
- Telephone
- 029 2056 1115
- Headteacher
- Mrs D Lewis
- Type of school
- Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
- Religious character
- None
- Local authority
- Cardiff
- Ward
- Ely
- Constituency
- Cardiff West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 9 September 2004 (new provision)
- URN
- 402078 · School number 6812312
- Language
- English medium school / provision
Recent changes
- PhaseCode changed from “Primary” to “Other”
- TypeCode changed from “Community school” to “Welsh establishment”
- Pupil numbers changed from “463” to “–”
- Free school meals % changed from “57.6” to “–”
- ReligiousCharacter changed from “None” to “–”
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education Get Information About Schools and the Welsh Government address list of schools (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Results, attendance, pupils, staff and budget: Welsh Government, My Local School, latest data to 2026.
- Neighbourhood deprivation: Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025 postcode lookup.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.