Carmarthenshire County Council has approved the discontinuation of Ysgol Llansteffan.

The decision was made at a meeting held today (Wednesday, March 4).

The closure will come into effect on August 31, 2026, with pupils transferred to Ysgol Llangain from September 1.

The current catchment for Ysgol Llansteffan will also be absorbed by Ysgol Llangain. Parents/guardians may also apply to other schools in Carmarthenshire via the usual school admissions process.

Ysgol Llansteffan was identified based on criteria set out within the Modernising Education Programme, approved by Cabinet on November 18, 2024 in order to address challenges faced by the school.

This includes:

Carmarthenshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, Cllr Glynog Davies, said: “The decision to close Ysgol Llansteffan is difficult for everyone involved and it is, with sadness, that this has been agreed.

“Following a robust process, the discontinuation of Ysgol Llansteffan will enable the school to combine with Ysgol Llangain to provide safer staffing, the wider sharing of Welsh language among pupils and a more sustainable rural community.”

Pupil numbers had dwindled from 34 three years ago to eight in 2025, but parent Keri Thomas said this was partly because teaching staff including the headteacher left in the summer of 2023.

“It wasn’t just a natural decline of numbers,” said Mrs Thomas.

According to official figures there were 16 pupils at the school as of last month. Mrs Thomas said it had now risen to 17 and that it hadn’t been easy to attract more learners since closure began to appear a very real possibility.

“How are we going to attract pupils when we’ve got this huge thing hanging over our head?” she said.

She and other parents have reacted with dismay to the closure decision.

“Our children are not numbers on a spreadsheet,” said parent Stuart Carter.

“They belong to a growing and caring school community, yet they are being told to move to a smaller, more cramped school.”

It is the case that Ysgol Llansteffan has many surplus places and is considerably more expensive to run as a result.

Speaking at a meeting of full council on March 4, Cllr Glynog Davies, cabinet member for education, said 46 parents from the Ysgol Llansteffan catchment area were sending their children to other schools in January, 2025 – the point in time when Ysgol Llansteffan’s numbers fell to eight.

“That is their choice,” he said. “This indicates a limited demand for provision in the village.”

He added: “I am aware some children have moved back to Ysgol Llansteffan from other schools. Despite that increase, the higher figure is not sufficient to maintain a sustainable school.” He said he “had asked this question a number of times” in discussions he’d had.

Cllr Davies said receiving school Ysgol Llangain had sufficient places to accommodate Ysgol Llansteffan and that no new classrooms would be needed.

He added: “Not every child in (Ysgol) Llansteffan will go to (Ysgol) Llangain.”

Cllr Davies said the number of school-aged pupils was declining across Carmarthenshire and that the Plaid Cymru-Independent-led council had been criticised by Welsh Government inspection body Esytn, a panel of peer reviewers and councillors for not moving ahead with its strategy of making Carmarthenshire’s overall school footprint more sustainable.

Many schools are in deficit or are forecast to be, which affects the authority’s finances. “Fewer pupils is a challenge for us,” said Cllr Davies, who insisted the council had followed the relevant guidelines and processes en route to the closure recommendation put before full council.

Parents who contacted the Local Democracy Reporting Service and the parent teachers’ association said they didn’t feel the council had engaged with them about alternative proposals they’d put forward to make the school more viable.

They also had concerns the council’s financial modelling was based on the school having eight pupils rather than the current higher number as, they said, it made the expected savings look a lot higher.

But Cllr Davies said alternative ideas put forward by parents and other stakeholders had been looked at.

“Everything has been considered,” he said. “I personally have discussed this matter with officers.”

Cabinet had previously recommended Ysgol Llansteffan’s closure, leading to 198 objections and three in support. A report about the 201 responses included the results of a pupil survey. It said pupils were “worried, sad and hurt” about possibly moving to a new school.

“They think that the school is excellent, with great teachers and facilities that enable the pupils to work and learn outdoors,” it said. “They wanted councillors to consider how they would feel if this was to happen to them.”

Speaking at the March 4 meeting, Cllr Peter Hughes Griffiths said he had spent his life in education and that, taking into account staff at Ysgol Llansteffan having to teach children of different ages and abilities in the same class, transferring them to Ysgol Llangain would be “the best thing” for them educationally.

Referring to the viability question, Cllr Hughes Griffiths, who is chairman of the council’s education and young people scrutiny committee, said: “Unfortunately we have to face the reality of the situation. That’s what it comes down to.”

The proposal to close Ysgol Llansteffan was seconded by Independent councillor and cabinet member Edward Thomas.

“The simple fact, with so few pupils, the school is not viable,” he said.

Ysgol Llansteffan parents have raised funding for legal representation, including £1,175 at the school’s latest Christmas fair, and a solicitor has been engaged.

Parent Mrs Thomas said: “We want to make sure we have done everything that we possibly can.”

Twelve two and three-bedroom council houses had recently been built in the village, where 35% of the population was aged 65 or over according to the 2021 census, offering school supporters hope of additional pupil intake.

But Ysgol Llansteffan, which is federated with Ysgol Llangain and Ysgol Bancyfelin, will officially close on August 31 and the catchment area redesignated as Ysgol Llangain’s.

Ann Evans, who has a grandchild at Ysgol Llansteffan, described the council meeting as “incredibly frustrating”.

She said: “Updated pupil numbers and new information were acknowledged, yet the justification for closure continued to rely on outdated data from January, 2025. It has left many of us feeling that the outcome was decided from the very beginning rather than being the result of a genuinely open process.”

Parent Mared Lenny said she felt “there was only one way this day would go”.

She said: “Savings were prioritised over children, and bureaucracy over community.”

Another parent, Luisa Neumann, said: “Today, the council voted to close what is arguably the most beautifully located school in Carmarthenshire, a school deeply loved by its pupils and by the entire community.”

The decision was taken, she claimed, with “no visible regret”.

Craig Thomas, another parent, said: “For us, this is not just a policy decision on a report — it is our children, our school, and the heart of our community.

“Many parents sat watching as decisions were debated by people who cannot fully understand the dynamics of our rural village, yet they were being asked to vote on projections that do not reflect what is currently happening locally.”