Overall attendance rates at schools in Carmarthenshire are the lowest in Wales and action is being taken, a council meeting has heard.

Across the county as a whole, provisional attendance rates in March this year were 88% for secondary schools and 92.7% for primary schools.

These are not much below the Welsh average but a report before the council’s education, young people and Welsh language scrutiny committee said Carmarthenshire was currently placed 22nd out of Wales’s 22 local authority areas.

Owain Lloyd, director of education and children’s services, said improving attendance was “probably our top priority” and that progress was being made. But he said it wasn’t consistent across the county, and that he felt there was a wider “inclusion challenge” linked to additional learning needs, behaviour and a rise in the number of home-educated children.

Carmarthenshire had 694 home-educated pupils at the end of 2024-25 and Mr Lloyd said other areas, particularly west Wales, were also experiencing a rise in this cohort. He said this could be down to parental lifestyles and concerns among some that the school curriculum wasn’t “rich enough”.

Committee member Deborah Elias, who isn’t a councillor, said she home-educated her daughter and that it was currently paying dividends. Negativity around the issue was “quite frustrating”, she said.

The committee also heard about ongoing work to reduce school financial deficits, deal with an overall trend of falling pupil numbers, and deliver the new curriculum.

Referring to pupil numbers Aneirin Thomas, head of education and inclusion services, said there were “genuine challenges” over the future of two secondary schools although he didn’t name them.

Committee members also received an update on new-build school projects. A new Ysgol Heol Goffa and Ysgol Dewi Sant, both in Llanelli, are earmarked for completion within five years along with a new Ysgol Gwenllian, Kidwelly.

Mr Lloyd said the Ysgol Heol Goffa project was moving forward and that a 75% funding contribution from the Welsh Government towards the estimated £35 million cost “is definitely there”. He said the team involved was refining the design of the new school before proceeding to planning. The council would then go out to tender, he said, and select a contractor.

Cllr Steve Williams said he feared a new Ysgol Dewi Sant would “cause absolute mayhem” in terms of traffic if it was built at the former Llanelli leisure centre, although he appreciated that pupils have waited a very long time for a new school.

Mr Lloyd said the council was undertaking a feasibility study into the leisure centre site and expected to have it back by Christmas. He said the study would take into account road and parking considerations and inform a wider discussion about whether that option was “a runner”.

As well as new-build projects there are a number of smaller-scale school improvements under way or planned, including new changing rooms at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman, Ammanford, costing £1.2 million, and a new £1 million community hub at Queen Elizabeth High School, Carmarthen.