BEAUFORT Hill Primary School will not be part of the Brynmawr Foundation School catchment area, senior councillors have agreed.

At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Labour Cabinet on Monday, February 23, councillors received the proposal to set up a catchment area for Brynmawr Foundation School.

This followed a consultation on the catchment area proposals taking place between December 12 and January 5. Respondents were asked to comment on two options.

The first option, which was supported by 84 (21.3 per cent) of responses, would officially place Beaufort Hill, Blaen y Cwm, Ystruth, and Coed y Garn primary schools all in the catchment area for Brynmawr.

The second option, which was supported by 311 (78.7 per cent) of responses, does not include Beaufort Hill Primary School in the catchment.

Last month, at a “special” meeting of the Young People and Families Scrutiny Committee which looked at the catchment area, councillors voted in favour of Option One – which would put Beaufort Hill in the catchment.

Newly appointed Cabinet member for Adults and Communities, Cllr Jules Gardner , said: “It’s essential that Brynmawr School has a catchment area in place, so that we deal with the school’s admissions code and Welsh Government advice.”

Council Leader, Cllr Steve Thomas , said that the proposal had been the topic of “long discussions” and that Cabinet members were “minded to follow the line” that Option Two was the best one.

This is the second time the proposal has come before Cabinet.

Last year, recommendations for setting the catchment area had been included in an all-county annual review of the admissions policy for nursery and statutory education for 2026/2027 – which was agreed by the Labour Cabinet in April 2025.

On the advice of the People Scrutiny Committee, proposals for the Brynmawr catchment area were pulled out of the paper as councillors felt more work was needed on it.