Newcastle Emlyn Secondary Modern School was built in 1958 to the designs of County Architect W. T. Lloyd, at a cost of £109,000. The school, built by Isaac Jones and Sons of Llanelli, was the first major project to be completed in Wales under the 1955-56 building programme. The school drew pupils from both Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire. Described upon opening as: 'An ultra modern building, the first to be designed for Carmarthenshire Education Committee as a secondary modern school. Built on a hill-side to the south of Newcastle Emlyn, the school has a pre-stressed concrete frame throughout and is partly constructed of brickwork with low pitched concrete roofs. The classroom block is faced with glass curtain walling.' The school, which replaced the school at Henllan, initially had accommodation for 360 pupils with nine classrooms, a library, assembly-dining hall, gymnasium, science labs, art and craft rooms, handicraft room, and domestic science room. Outdoor facilities included a football pitch encircled by a running track, a hockey pitch, four tennis courts and a hard paved playing area. 

Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn now educates approximately 640 pupils aged 11 to 18 through the medium of English and Welsh. It is situated on the south western fringes of Newcastle Emlyn, next to the leisure centre. Photographed during the Royal Commission's programme of archaeological aerial reconnaissance by Toby Driver on 13th March 2015.

M. Ryder, RCAHMW, 23rd November 2018. Updated by M. Powel, RCAHMW. December 2022.

Sources: Estyn report published May 2012; 'New School to Serve Two Counties', Western Mail, 3 April 1958, p.8