St Francis V.A. Primary School
St Francis V.A. Primary School is a Roman Catholic school (voluntary aided) in Cardiff for pupils aged 3 to 11. It has 332 pupils. Teaching is in English.
Wilson Road, Ely, Cardiff, CF5 4JL029 2059 1666All 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. As a Roman Catholic school it may put families of that faith first.
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 | 58.2% | 61.9% | 61.2% | 57.7% | 51.9% | 46.0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportAdditional learning needs (ALN) | 7.1% | 6.6% | 9.2% | 12.8% | 16.3% | 17.7% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 23.0% | 18.9% | 21.2% | 20.9% | 17.1% | 18.1% |
| Black, Asian and minority ethnic pupilsBAME pupils | 44.0% | 40.6% | 42.8% | 35.4% | 37.3% | 35.8% |
Attendance
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 90.1% 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, £649 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windsor Clive Primary School | Council | 250 m | 469 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| Hywel Dda Primary School | Council | 600 m | 417 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| Pencaerau Primary school | Council | 790 m | 232 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| Herbert Thompson Primary | Council | 0.7 miles | 463 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| St Fagans C.I.W. Primary School | Church in Wales | 0.8 miles | 201 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| Fairwater Primary School | Council | 0.8 miles | 159 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| Trelai Primary School | Council | 1.0 miles | 329 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
| Holy Family R.C. Primary School | Roman Catholic | 1.1 miles | 156 | Estyn, no grade | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is St Francis V.A. Primary School a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score St Francis V.A. Primary School yet.
How many pupils does St Francis V.A. Primary School have?
332 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
- Wilson Road, Ely, Cardiff, CF5 4JL
- Telephone
- 029 2059 1666
- Type of school
- Roman Catholic school (voluntary aided) (Voluntary aided school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Local authority
- Cardiff
- Ward
- Ely
- Constituency
- Cardiff West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 9 September 2004 (new provision)
- URN
- 402079 · School number 6813375
- Language
- English medium school / provision
Recent changes
- PhaseCode changed from “Primary” to “Other”
- TypeCode changed from “Voluntary aided school” to “Welsh establishment”
- Pupil numbers changed from “332” to “–”
- Free school meals % changed from “58.2” to “–”
- ReligiousCharacter changed from “Roman Catholic” 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.