At The Bishop of Llandaff, our aim is to ensure that every student, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to flourish academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually. Using external grants from Welsh Government, the school seeks to reduce the barriers that by focusing support to key areas and ensure equity of opportunity. All grant expenditure is designed to support specific areas of the school's work, against local, regional and national priorities. 

How the delegated grants are spent
At The Bishop of Llandaff, our plan for using grant allocations from Welsh Government is integrated into our School Development Plan (SDP). Our four overarching priorities (2026 - 2029) linked to

1. Achievement and Progress;
2. Faith, Wellbeing and Equity;
3. Professional Development and Growth; and
4. Curriculum and Learning.

Professional Learning Grant
Welsh Government has awarded schools in Wales additional financial support, through a Professional Learning Grant (PLG) to enable staff to prepare for the new curriculum for Wales. The grant has enabled us to continue to offer first class professional learning through the funding of a dedicated learning and teaching team to support our staff through effective planning, implementation as well as delivering our in-house professional learning and our strategic work on the new curriculum. 

Pupil Development Grant
The Pupil Development Grant (PDG) is designed to support improving outcomes and provision for students eligible for free school meals (eFSM) and looked after children (LAC). The PDG is intended to help overcome this additional barrier which prevent learners from disadvantaged backgrounds achieving their full potential. Our total allocation is £132,250.

Our PDG is spent in the following ways for 2026-27

• Learning Coach/Mentor(s);
• Additional mathematics and English teaching;
• Alternative provision for those students identified as potentially becoming NEET (not in education, employment and training); and 
• Enrichment opportunities. 

The strategies implemented by the school are drawn upon the most effective practice and educational research from organisations such as Education Endowment Fund, which includes well-evidenced interventions as part of a whole-school strategy.

Impact of grant expenditure on student outcomes (2026) 
The impact of external grant expenditure on student progress and performance is exceptionally strong and demonstrates excellent value for money. Investment has been targeted effectively to ensure that all groups of students achieve highly, regardless of background, need or starting point. Outcomes indicate that there are no identifiable gaps in performance between groups, reflecting the sustained success of the school's inclusive and ambitious approach to achievement.

Students entitled to free school meals (eFSM) performed particularly well. Despite representing around 10% of the cohort, all eFSM students achieved five or more A*-C grades, with many of these students securing this measure including English and mathematics. Furthermore, more than a quarter of eFSM students attained five or more A*-A grades, while the average capped points score of eFSM students equating to 420 points across the nine subjects (inclusive of the best of English; best of mathematics; best of science; and six other best outcomes). This is the equivalent to an average of nine B grades for all students entitled to free school meals. This demonstrates that disadvantaged students make very strong progress and achieve outcomes that compare very favourably with national expectations (of both eFSM and non-eFSM students).

"The school's use of the Pupil Development Grant has secures outstanding outcomes for those eligible for free school meals"
(Estyn)