School catchment areas

Welsh-medium schools

There are no catchment areas for the Welsh-medium schools in Bridgend.

A parent/carer can make an application for a place for their child at any Welsh-medium school within the county. However, if a parent/carer chooses to apply for place at a Welsh-medium school that is not the nearest Welsh-medium school to the child’s home residence, and that application is successful, there is no entitlement to free home-to-school transport to that requested school.

Eligibility for school transport only applies where the child’s home residence is more than two miles walking distance from the nearest Welsh-medium primary school or three miles walking distance from the nearest Welsh-medium secondary school.

Voluntary aided faith schools

There are no catchment areas for the voluntary aided faith schools in Bridgend.

A parent/carer can make an application for a place for their child at any voluntary aided faith school within the county. However, parents/carers should note that voluntary aided faith schools in Bridgend process their own admissions.

If a parent/carer choses to apply for a voluntary aided faith school that is not the nearest suitable voluntary aided faith school, and that application is successful, there is no entitlement to free home-to-school transport to that requested school.

Nursery pupils will be provided with free home-to-school transport if they attend their nearest voluntary aided faith school and live 1.5 miles or more from the school, or the walking route from the pupil’s home is considered by the local authority to be unavailable. 

Primary school pupils (Reception to Year 6) will be provided with free home-to-school transport if they attend their nearest voluntary aided faith school and live two miles or more from the school, or the walking route from the pupil’s home is considered by the local authority to be unavailable.

Secondary school pupils (Year 7 to Year 11) will be provided with free home-to-school transport if they attend their nearest voluntary aided faith school and live three miles or more from the school, or the walking route from the pupil’s home to the school is considered by the local authority to be unavailable.

Post-16 (sixth-form) pupils will be provided with free home-to-school transport if they attend their nearest voluntary aided faith secondary school and live three miles or more from the school, or the walking route from the pupil’s home to that school is considered by the local authority to be unavailable. 

It is only the local authority that is able to identify whether a walked route is considered to be ‘available’. Distances will be measured by the nearest available walking route from a pupil’s home to their school. The local authority uses a dedicated geographical information system to measure these distances and ensure accuracy.