School Chooser

Pencaerau Primary school

Primary · ages 3-11Council232 pupilsNurseryCardiff
School Chooser ScoreNot scoredWales doesn't publish results for primary schools, so there is nothing to score. Attendance, pupils, staffing and budget are below.
Attendance88.9%Wales 92.8%
Pupils from low-income families51%
Pupils with additional learning needs6%
Pupils on roll232
NeighbourhoodBelow-average income areaWelsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025
Pupils per teacher24.2

Pencaerau Primary school is a council school in Caerau for pupils aged 3 to 11. It has 232 pupils. Teaching is in English.

Cyntwell Avenue, Caerau, CF5 5QN029 2059 9224pencaerauprimary.comAll 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.

Pupils on roll232
Pupils from low-income families51%Three-year average; Wales –
Pupils getting extra support6%Additional learning needs; Wales –
Pupils learning English5%First language is not English or Welsh
Black, Asian and minority ethnic pupils21%
LanguageEnglish mediumEnglish medium school / provision
NeighbourhoodBelow-average income areaIf Wales's neighbourhoods were split into ten groups from poorest to wealthiest, this one is in group 3 (Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025)
How the mix of pupils has changed
Year202520242023202220212020
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals51.0%55.4%56.2%51.5%46.5%42.6%
Pupils getting extra supportAdditional learning needs (ALN)6.3%6.2%7.3%7.9%29.2%25.7%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language4.6%4.5%4.5%4.5%6.7%5.6%
Black, Asian and minority ethnic pupilsBAME pupils21.3%21.3%21.2%21.5%21.9%22.9%

Attendance

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 88.9% 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.

Attendance88.9%
Wales 92.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Trend
Attendance
2019 to 2025
2019: 91.9%91.9%20192023: 88.4%88.4%20232024: 88.4%88.4%20242025: 88.9%88.9%2025
Since 2019: -3.0%

Staff and budget

From the Welsh Government's My Local School, 2025/26.

Budget per pupil£5,2652025/26, Wales £5,678
Trend
Budget per pupil (£)
2020 to 2026
2020: 4,2684,26820202021: 4,3924,39220212022: 4,2244,22420222023: 4,4614,46120232024: 4,8094,80920242025: 5,0075,00720252026: 5,2655,2652026
Since 2020: +997

The budget is the money the council gave the school to spend per pupil in 2025/26, £413 less than the Welsh average for primary schools. Small and rural schools tend to get more per pupil.

The area around the school

Crimes within 500 m40212 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate107 per 1,000 people17% higher than the England average
Typical house price£269,475Cardiff
Nearest bus stop80 mHeol Trelai, 28 stops within 500 m

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.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Hywel Dda Primary SchoolCouncil210 m417Estyn, no gradeCompare
St Francis V.A. Primary SchoolRoman Catholic790 m332Estyn, no gradeCompare
Windsor Clive Primary SchoolCouncil900 m469Estyn, no gradeCompare
St Fagans C.I.W. Primary SchoolChurch in Wales0.6 miles201Estyn, no gradeCompare
Trelai Primary SchoolCouncil1.1 miles329Estyn, no gradeCompare
Herbert Thompson PrimaryCouncil1.1 miles463Estyn, no gradeCompare
Fairwater Primary SchoolCouncil1.3 miles159Estyn, no gradeCompare
Millbank Primary SchoolCouncil1.4 miles251Estyn, no gradeCompare

Questions parents ask

Is Pencaerau Primary school a good school?

We don't have enough published data to score Pencaerau Primary school yet.

How many pupils does Pencaerau Primary school have?

232 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
Cyntwell Avenue, Caerau, CF5 5QN
Telephone
029 2059 9224
Website
www.pencaerauprimary.com
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
Caerau
Constituency
Cardiff West
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
1 September 2010 (result of amalgamation)
URN
402255 · School number 6812327
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 “232” to “–”
  • Free school meals % changed from “51.0” to “–”
  • ReligiousCharacter changed from “None” to “–”

Where these figures come from