Four rural primary schools in Carmarthenshire are another step closer to shutting after the council's cabinet voted in favour of formal consultations recommending their closure at the end of December 2027. The schools are Ysgol Blaenau, Ysgol Pontiets, Ysgol Carwe and Ysgol Bancffosfelen.
No binding decisions have been made, and the full council will have the final say. The move follows a meeting at County Hall in Carmarthen where placard-waving parents and pupils urged decision-makers to save their schools. One placard about Ysgol Blaenau, near Llandybie, read: “Are your ‘savings’ worth out futures?”
Reasons Behind the Proposed Closures
Although the individual circumstances of the four primaries differ, the council is concerned about declining pupil numbers, high surplus places, the condition of some school buildings, and current or projected financial deficits. Councillor Glynog Davies, cabinet member for education, said the authority had to meet “the needs of a community, not just a village” and address growing financial deficits accumulating in many of the county's schools. “Accepting the status quo is not an option,” he said.
One primary has already closed in the county this year, and two more will shut at the end of next month. Cllr Davies said school closures would in principle be at the end of an academic year from now on, although there may be circumstances when a different date may be appropriate.
Details on Each School
Referring to Ysgol Blaenau, Cllr Davies said it currently had 21 registered pupils and 98 spaces, with 41 pupils from the catchment attending schools elsewhere. The school's forecast deficit at the end of 2026-27, he said, was £362,556. He cited a 2024 report by inspection body Estyn which said school governors hadn't addressed the deficit effectively enough, which ward councillor Dai Thomas disputed. Cllr Thomas said the debt had built despite governors taking difficult decisions including redundancies, and that suggesting governors were responsible for the deficit was “simply untrue”. He added that Ysgol Blaenau was a happy and successful school with dedicated staff and committed governors, not “just a budget deficit or set of buildings”, and said: “Please give this school the opportunity it needs to survive and succeed”.
After the vote, Cllr Davies spoke about Ysgol Pontiets, which had 16 pupils and 83 spaces, with 41 children from the catchment going to schools elsewhere. The deficit forecast at the end of 2026-27 is £80,469. Ward councillor Alex Evans said he had serious doubts about the consultation document and claimed deficiencies in it could open the council to a “credible judicial challenge”. He also asked what assessment had been done to establish whether the B4317 was a safe route to school, given that Pontiets pupils would transfer to Ysgol Ponthenri a mile away, noting a 50mph speed limit on the road and a lack of street lighting. Cllr Edward Thomas, cabinet member for transport, said a technical desktop assessment had been carried out and that further work and improvements would be needed regarding the road should Ysgol Pontiets close.
The meeting then heard about Ysgol Carwe in Carway, which has been shut temporarily since September 2025 due to a serious building issue, with pupils relocating to Ysgol Gwynfryn. Cllr Davies said this problem had occurred overnight and that there had been no choice but to close it. Reopening the school, he said, would cost more than £2 million. Ysgol Carwe had 58 pupils as of January this year, 118 spaces and a 2026-27 deficit forecast of £23,143. Ward councillor and long-serving school governor Tyssul Evans asked cabinet to respond to concerns that the building problems were being used as an excuse to close it, adding that investment had been promised. He also said the school was not currently in deficit and that steps had been taken to cut costs, saying: “And now we are being punished for that.” He asked: “Who is managing this council - the administration or the officers?” Cllr Linda Evans, leader of the Plaid-Independent administration, said a range of criteria was considered by cabinet, not just the condition of buildings, and that people could raise concerns as part of the proposed consultation.
Another ward councillor, Meinir James, asked what impact closing three Welsh language schools in the vicinity would have on the Welsh language, and whether all sources of funding had been explored including grants to invest in Ysgol Carwe. Cllr Davies replied saying funding opportunities “are routinely explored where appropriate” but that in Ysgol Carwe's case “wider challenges” would still exist, although he agreed it was not currently in the red.
Turning finally to Ysgol Bancffosfelen, Cllr Davies said it had 48 pupils as of January this year and 98 places - although this latter number will come down to 86 – and 41 children from the catchment attending schools elsewhere. The budget deficit for the end of 2026-27 is forecast to be £107,733. He said he had concerns about buildings at the part-Victorian school but not about the leadership, and that a new Estyn report about Ysgol Bancffosfelen would be published at the end of the month. Ward councillor Liam Bowen said there were currently 50 pupils and that the school had grown, and that he was disappointed in the unwillingness of cabinet to discuss things with him. He noted there were 19 schools in the county with fewer pupils than Ysgol Bancffosfelen, 16 of which were forecast to be in the red.
Next Steps and Investment
The meeting heard that investment would be made in Ysgol Pontyberem - the school where Ysgol Bancffosfelen pupils would go - in order to increase capacity. Parents wishing to place their children at Ysgol Pontyberem have already been turned down because there weren't enough places. Cabinet member for resources, Cllr Alun Lenny, said the school strategy being implemented by the administration was to modernise education: “We have to consider whether buildings from the Victorian age are suitable for the 21st Century.”
