Anglesey presses on with £66m secondary school
Armed with approval from the Welsh Government, the county council can start designing a 900-place replacement for the in-need-of-repair Ysgol Uwchradd Caergybi in Holyhead.
The current school is situated between South Stak and Proth y Felin Road, with its oldest buildings built in the 1940s and the bulk of them constructed in the 1960s and 1970s. Several blocks have Reinforced Autoclave Aerated Concrete in their roofs. Due to its age, the building is lacking in accessibility features and also has a projected maintenance need of £29m.
Ysgol Uwchradd Caergybi is also too big for its intake, with 29% of surplus spaces at the 1,170-capacity campus.
Adding to its need for replacement is the fact the school is one of the top 10 highest carbon emitters in Isle of Anglesey County Council’s estate.
The proposed replacement school, on the other hand, would be built to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating and to be net zero in operation. It would have capacity for 900 students to study, offering classes for those in years seven to 13.
It is set to occupy a site area of 595,200 sq ft.
Land for this new school still needs to be procured, but the county council is eyeing a site near the Holyhead Leisure Centre.
The Welsh Government approval follows a consultation exercise that took place in the summer of 2025, which invited stakeholders to weigh in on core principles of a new building. If the current proposed timeline is followed, the current school would close in the summer of 2030, with the new on opening its doors that autumn.
Building the new school has an estimated cost of £65.9m attached, according to the county council. The goal is for this to be jointly funded by the local authority and Welsh Government, with the county council committing 35% of the cost and the government providing the remaining 65% through its Mutal Investment Model.
Aaron Evans, Isle of Anglesey County Council’s director of education, skills, and young people, made the case for the new building.
He said, “Creating a modern, purpose-built school building represents a major investment in education in Caergybi and its catchment area. We believe this project will secure the long-term sustainability of secondary education locally and provide specialist learning spaces of the highest standard.”
