The number of oversubscribed state primary schools in Cardiff has halved from the last academic year, with 11 having to turn pupils away for the 2023/24 academic year compared to the one before. More than 200 applications for primary schools in Cardiff were turned down last year due to capacity issues, but this has dropped dramatically to 64 for September 2023.
When schools are oversubscribed, Cardiff Council applies a number of criteria to decide how places are allocated. These include prioritising children who are looked after by the council - in other words a child which has been under its care for 24 hours or more - as well as children living in the catchment area of the school, who have a sibling at the school or where there are compelling medical grounds for admission to a particular school.
Ysgol Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd and Rhydypenau Primary School saw the highest demand for places, having to turn away 11 pupils each. This was followed by Ysgol Pencae that had to refuse eight people, and Ysgol Glan Ceubal that had to reject seven pupils.
