Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni is a designated Welsh-medium community comprehensive school for pupils and students aged 11-18 years. It is maintained by Caerphilly local authority. It has 1,498 pupils, including 269 in the sixth form. These figures have risen since the time of the previous inspection in 2010, when there were 1,324 pupils. The school is situated on two sites. The Gelli Haf site is situated near the village of Fleur de Lys, and offers provision for pupils aged 11-18 years. The catchment area for this site encompasses the top end of the valley, from Llanbradach to Rhymney. The Gwyndy site is in the town of Caerphilly, close to Caerphilly Castle. Pupils come to this site from the Senghennydd area and the town of Caerphilly itself. At present, provision on this site is for pupils aged 11-14 years but the intention is to expand this provision to pupils aged 11-18 years as numbers grow further. Nearly all pupils come from a British background and no pupils receive support to learn English as an additional language. Eight per cent of pupils speak Welsh with their families but all of them are fluent in the language and receive their education in all subjects through the medium of Welsh, except for English. Twelve point eight per cent (12.8%) of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is lower than the national average of 17.7%. About 25% of pupils live in the 20% of most underprivileged areas in Wales. The school admits pupils from the whole ability range and the percentage of pupils who have special educational needs is approximately 21%, which is lower than the national average, namely 25%. Two per cent of pupils have a statement of special educational needs, which is a little lower than the national average, namely 2.5%. The headteacher began in the post in September 2008. The senior leadership team includes the headteacher, deputy headteacher, two executive deputy headteachers (one of whom is responsible for the Gwyndy site) and three assistant headteachers. At present, the school is a ‘curriculum pioneer school’. This means that it works with the Welsh Government and other curriculum pioneers to develop and pilot a new curriculum for Wales. The individual school budget per pupil for Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni in 2015-2016 is £4,198. The maximum per pupil in secondary schools in Caerphilly is £5,429 and the minimum is £3,846. Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni is in fifth place of the 14 secondary schools in Caerphilly in terms of the school budget per pupil.