Merthyr Tydfil County Borough consists of the northern part of the Taff valley and the neighbouring Taff Bargoed Valley.
Merthyr Tydfil is one of five local authorities in the Central South Consortium Joint Education Service.
The school population is the smallest in Wales and numbers under 9000 pupils. The authority has responsibility for 27 schools.
There are 22 primary schools with an average size of 255 pupils, ranging from Bedlinog Primary school with 90 pupils to Goetre Primary School with over 475 pupils.
There are four secondary schools, none of which have sixth forms.
There are no through schools in Merthyr Tydfil.
There is one special school which has post-16 provision.
There is one Welsh medium primary school. There are no Welsh medium secondary schools.
