School Chooser

St Cyres Comprehensive School

Secondary · ages 11-19Council1,226 pupilsSixth formVale of Glamorgan
School Chooser Score
53
In line with
similar schools
Likely range 40 to 60
Out of 100. Better than 40% of the 50 schools most like it. Much the same over the last five years.
Best nine GCSE grades score378Wales 366
Attendance89.2%Wales 89.6%
Pupils from low-income families16%Wales 20%
Pupils with additional learning needs8%Wales 11%
Pupils on roll1,226
NeighbourhoodAbove-average income areaWelsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025

St Cyres Comprehensive School is a council school in The Vale of Glamorgan for pupils aged 11 to 19. It has 1,226 pupils. We give it 53 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 40% of the 50 schools most like it. Teaching is in English.

St Cyre's Road, Penarth, The Vale of Glamorgan, CF64 2XP029 2070 8708All 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

GCSE results, summer 2025

Wales scores GCSEs in points rather than counting passes. Here is how the school compares with all secondaries in Wales.

Best nine GCSE grades score378
Wales 366
Official name: Capped 9 points score (interim)
English or Welsh score41.8
Wales 39.9
Official name: Literacy points score
Maths score38.7
Wales 36.9
Official name: Numeracy points score
Science score39.1
Wales 37.0
Official name: Science points score
Trend
Best nine GCSE grades score
2023 to 2025
2023: 37937920232024: 36736720242025: 3783782025
Since 2023: -2Steady overall
All GCSE measures, year by year
Measure202520242023Vale of GlamorganWales
Best nine GCSE grades scoreCapped 9 points score (interim)378367379375366
English or Welsh scoreLiteracy points score41.840.142.841.839.9
Maths scoreNumeracy points score38.738.540.438.736.9
Science scoreScience points score39.137.539.238.837.0
Welsh Baccalaureate scoreSkills Challenge Certificate points score40.930.837.119.631.6
Best nine GCSE score: low-income pupilsCapped 9, eligible for free school meals294278292301308

Interim measures published by the Welsh Government; no measures were published for 2020 to 2022.

Does every child do well here?

A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. None of the gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.

At GCSE, 2025

Best nine GCSE grades scoreLow-income pupils vs all pupils
293.6377.7
Gap 84.1England 57.9
Literacy pointsLow-income pupils vs all pupils
34.541.8
Gap 7.3
Numeracy pointsLow-income pupils vs all pupils
29.938.7
Gap 8.8
Science pointsLow-income pupils vs all pupils
27.839.1
Gap 11.3
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

Low-income means the child gets free school meals. The Welsh figures are averaged over three years, and the grey marks show Wales rather than England.

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 Vale of Glamorgan council, not the school.

Who goes here

Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.

Pupils on roll1,226
Pupils from low-income families16%Three-year average; Wales 20%
Pupils getting extra support8%Additional learning needs; Wales 11%
Pupils learning English10%First language is not English or Welsh
Black, Asian and minority ethnic pupils30%
LanguageEnglish mediumEnglish medium school / provision
NeighbourhoodAbove-average income areaIf Wales's neighbourhoods were split into ten groups from poorest to wealthiest, this one is in group 8 (Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025)
How the mix of pupils has changed
Year202520242023202220212020
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals15.8%16.7%17.1%17.4%16.5%16.0%
Pupils getting extra supportAdditional learning needs (ALN)8.2%5.4%15.1%17.8%19.1%20.6%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language10.4%11.8%9.9%10.8%12.2%14.1%
Black, Asian and minority ethnic pupilsBAME pupils29.7%32.6%31.5%32.3%32.8%33.3%

Attendance

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 89.2% of the time. Across secondary schools in Wales it was 89.6%. Wales doesn't publish figures on pupils who miss a lot of school, or on exclusions, for individual schools.

Attendance89.2%
Wales 89.6%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Trend
Attendance
2019 to 2025
2019: 93.7%93.7%20192023: 87.0%87.0%20232024: 87.9%87.9%20242025: 89.2%89.2%2025
Since 2019: -4.5%Steady overall

Staff and budget

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

Budget per pupil£6,0672025/26, Wales £5,956
Trend
Budget per pupil (£)
2020 to 2026
2020: 4,5264,52620202021: 4,8954,89520212022: 4,9314,93120222023: 5,1585,15820232024: 5,5205,52020242025: 5,7505,75020252026: 6,0676,0672026
Since 2020: +1,541Steady overall

The budget is the money the council gave the school to spend per pupil in 2025/26, £111 more than the Welsh average for secondary schools. Small and rural schools tend to get more per pupil.

The area around the school

Crimes within 500 m9012 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate71 per 1,000 people22% lower than the England average
Nearest bus stop180 mRedlands Heights, 24 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 secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Stanwell SchoolFoundation960 m1,923Estyn, no grade96Compare
St Richard Gwyn R.C. High SchoolRoman Catholic2.3 miles817Estyn, no grade74Compare
Fitzalan High SchoolCouncil2.6 miles1,833Estyn, no grade70Compare
Cardiff West Community High SchoolCouncil3.1 miles1,061Estyn, no grade3Compare
Pencoedtre High SchoolCouncil3.3 miles1,061Estyn, no grade0Compare
Mary Immaculate R.C. High SchoolRoman Catholic3.3 miles871Estyn, no grade89Compare
Willows High SchoolCouncil4.1 miles809Estyn, no grade35Compare
Cantonian High SchoolCouncil4.1 miles947Estyn, no grade56Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares St Cyres Comprehensive School with the 50 schools in Wales whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 50 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats40%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the lower half of its group. Its score of 53 is 8 points below the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 10 · middle 61 · highest 100100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 50 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than St Cyres Comprehensive School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Stanwell SchoolFoundation960 m1,923Estyn, no grade96Compare
Whitmore High SchoolCouncil4.3 miles1,091Estyn, no grade64Compare
Ysgol Gymraeg Bro MorgannwgCouncil4.3 miles1,431Estyn, no grade88Compare
The Bishop Of Llandaff C.I.W. High SchoolChurch in Wales4.3 miles1,263Estyn, no grade100Compare
Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg GlantafCouncil4.6 miles1,498Estyn, no grade93Compare
Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro EdernCouncil4.9 miles935Estyn, no grade61Compare
Radyr Comprehensive SchoolCouncil5.4 miles1,426Estyn, no grade92Compare
Cardiff High SchoolCouncil5.6 miles1,794Estyn, no grade99Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 53 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 53% of secondary schools in Wales. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 40 to 60. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.

What we looked atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years40%above
+0.15
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 245 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils25%below
-0.13
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 245 pupils
Attendance and behaviour20%in line
-0.03
2024/25; 1,226 pupils
Direction of travel over five years15%in line
+0.02
results and attendance rising year on year

Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.

Questions parents ask

Is St Cyres Comprehensive School a good school?

It is about average. St Cyres Comprehensive School scores 53 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 40% of the 50 schools most like it in Wales. The score could fairly be anywhere from 40 to 60, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.

How many pupils does St Cyres Comprehensive School have?

1,226 pupils aged 11 to 19.

Does St Cyres Comprehensive School have a sixth form?

Yes.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
St Cyre's Road, Penarth, The Vale of Glamorgan, CF64 2XP
Telephone
029 2070 8708
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Secondary school, ages 11-19, with sixth form
Religious character
None
Local authority
Vale of Glamorgan
Ward
Cornerswell
Constituency
Cardiff South and Penarth
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
401805 · School number 6734067 · UKPRN 10013909
Language
English medium school / provision

Recent changes

  • PhaseCode changed from “Secondary” to “Other”
  • TypeCode changed from “Community school” to “Welsh establishment”
  • Pupil numbers changed from “1226” to “–”
  • Free school meals % changed from “15.8” to “–”
  • ReligiousCharacter changed from “None” to “–”

Where these figures come from