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Ysgol Friars

Gwynedd, United Kingdom
12 Reviews
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2.3 /5

12 reviews

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This school is currently rated below 3 stars based on 12 published reviews. Several reviews raise serious concerns, so parents should carry out extra due diligence before considering it for their child.

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About Ysgol Friars

Ysgol Friars, located at Lon y Bryn, Bangor, Gwynedd, is a bilingual 11-18 co-educational comprehensive school and the second oldest extant school in Wales, founded in 1557 by Geoffrey Glyn. The school has a rich history linked to a former Dominican friary and has evolved through significant reorganizations, including a 1971 merger of three local schools. Since 1999, it has operated on a unified site at Eithinog. Ysgol Friars serves a wide catchment area including Anglesey, North Arfon, and the Llลทn peninsula, making it the largest secondary school in Gwynedd and one of the largest in North Wales. The school emphasizes high standards of dress, behavior, and academic achievement, fostering a strong community ethos where pupils learn the impact of their actions on others. It offers a broad curriculum and extensive extracurricular activities, including participation in national competitions like F1 in Schools. Ysgol Friars is recognized for its pleasant and challenging learning environment, promoting endeavor and high standards, and has received high acclaim in recent inspections.

Key Facts

Founded 1557
Students 1,300

Rating Breakdown

Based on published reviews
Safety & Security 2.6
Teaching Quality 2.8
Communication 2.7
Student Wellbeing 2.8
Facilities 3.1

Reviews 12

P
Parent
Parent May 10, 2025
1.0

"bad teachers."

bad teachers. getting Afterschool for saying "Bean" gives a class detention for 2 people speaking.
Safety & Wellbeing 3/5
Teaching & Learning 2/5
Communication 2/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 2/5
Facilities 2/5
P
Parent
Parent Oct 7, 2024
1.0

"Where do I even start to show my hatred for this school"

Moved from David Hughes to Friars about 4 years ago and thought it'd be alright wow was I wrong the amount control people have over you is insane apparently they say they incourage individuality when in actual fact they seem to punish you if you make the slightest change to the uniform yet they don't punish someone who's bullying you I may also add the amount of prejudice racist and biggoted people who go to the school to including some in fact that I'd argue are teachers you can't go a day there without someone saying the n word or making fun of the way you look and generally don't seem to like you if you're above they're intellectual level in any way. They're school meals are also horrible you'd think they'd care enough to give people decently healthy school meals but they don't half the time it's processed meat all the vegetables taste like they've been tjrown in a microwave and they're gravy tastes like a gone off chinese takeaway for some bizzare reason. I used to do GCSE music it wasn't even music all they tought us was how to use a crappy website rather than actually relevant information you should have in a music career the teacher literally said you don't need to tune drums that just goes to show how much they cared about anything plus the fact the instruments are all beaten up and barely work least you could do is look after them I may also add the amount of reliance on the internet I had to do home schooling for 6 months due to problems in my personal life and they flatly refused to give me physical school work even though my school account didn't work properly and they wanted me in full time even though I couldn't even go into school without having a panic attack thinking about the toxic environment within. I think in conclusion the education system in friars works as follows, we want you to pass exams and get us good results no life skills just good grades and we don't care about anything else not even bullying or your wellbeing all of their promotional material is a load of s**t
Safety & Wellbeing 1/5
Teaching & Learning 1/5
Communication 1/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 1/5
Facilities 1/5
P
Parent
Parent Jun 1, 2024
5.0

"head teacher"

very amazing the head teacher should come back
Safety & Wellbeing 5/5
Teaching & Learning 5/5
Communication 5/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 5/5
Facilities 5/5
P
Parent
Parent Dec 28, 2023
3.0

"Corruption is at every level"

Shameful school, business teacher simply provides lessons by showing YouTube videos and bragging about being paid for the privilege. Staff are incapable of telling the truth; they prefer to pretend about professional standards. The care of children higher up the system is extremely poor; staff have favourite pupils and disregard others. Some teachers simply talk about themselves and discuss private issues as if they are royal. The head master (now living in Wrexham) was adored and was lovingly praised by all teachers. The bord constantly backed up the headmaster with no regard to evidence bought against him; again corruption is always near shameful behaviour. Probably the reason why teachers are blatantly incompetent. The evidence is there: ask the students!
Safety & Wellbeing 1/5
Teaching & Learning 1/5
Communication 1/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 3/5
Facilities 3/5
P
Parent
Parent Jun 16, 2023
5.0

"Best school"

Good school good learning and its just good for me
Safety & Wellbeing 4/5
Teaching & Learning 5/5
Communication 5/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 3/5
Facilities 5/5
P
Parent
Parent Apr 24, 2023
5.0

"Good school ๐Ÿซ "

Good school better than tryfan and is a good education for the people it's a 5 star
Safety & Wellbeing 5/5
Teaching & Learning 5/5
Communication 5/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 5/5
Facilities 5/5
P
Parent
Parent Apr 24, 2023
4.0

"Good school"

Good school it's not sh!t it has some bullies but are delt with and it is good
Safety & Wellbeing 5/5
Teaching & Learning 5/5
Communication 5/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 4/5
Facilities 5/5
P
Parent
Parent Feb 28, 2023
1.0

"Worst school in existence"

Horrifically bad school. They do nothing in regards to bullying, numerous complaints and no actions ever taken. Awful when it comes to children's mental health, offer no help and make the matter worse. Continuously place pupils in isolation for long periods of time for ridiculous reasons such as haircuts or nails. Headmaster was proven to be a bully in a court of law, and the school is full of teachers who bully students. Awful, toxic environment for children
Safety & Wellbeing 1/5
Teaching & Learning 1/5
Communication 1/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 1/5
Facilities 1/5
P
Parent
Parent Jun 8, 2022
1.0

"Bullies rule"

Reported many instances of bullying to the school head of year always says they'll phone back but never once has.
Safety & Wellbeing 1/5
Teaching & Learning 1/5
Communication 1/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 3/5
Facilities 3/5
P
Parent
Parent May 19, 2022
1.0

"Its shit"

I need to use 20 words so like uh yeah I'm gonna ramble but it's a rlly shit school especially for if u have issues they r just badddd
Safety & Wellbeing 1/5
Teaching & Learning 1/5
Communication 1/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 1/5
Facilities 1/5
P
Parent
Parent Dec 17, 2020
4.0

"Friars is :|"

I've been to a lot of schools and friars is definitely the best, but they have some weird ass rules that make no sense
Safety & Wellbeing 2/5
Teaching & Learning 4/5
Communication 3/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 3/5
Facilities 3/5
P
Parent
Parent Oct 2, 2020
1.0

"Friars is sh*t"

it sucks and is way too strict about insignificant stuff.
Safety & Wellbeing 1/5
Teaching & Learning 1/5
Communication 1/5
Mental & Emotional Wellbeing 1/5
Facilities 1/5

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