Future primary school building developments in Powys will focus on the “area school” model, an education chief has explained.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Learning and Skills scrutiny committee on Thursday, September 10, councillors and lay independent members received an update report on the capital budget performance for the first quarter of 2026/2027, from April to the end of June.

The council has just under £129 million to use on capital schemes this year, which means investing in new buildings as well as maintaining buildings and infrastructure.

Of this sum, £40.2 million has been allocated to education, with £11.35 million used during the first quarter.

The report provides an update on how several new school building projects are progressing.

Longer term, the council has a rolling list of pipeline school building projects.

Head of Transforming Schools Marianne Evans told the committee that they will soon get the opportunity to “review the SOP.”

This is the Strategic Outline Programme for school building projects from the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning programme.

The government has asked all councils to review their lists and Ms Evans said that the updated SOP will go before the cabinet later this year.

Cllr Angela Davies (Liberal Democrat – Rhayader) said: “How often do we review where we are building them?

“Are we just building where they are now and is that the right thing going forward?

“Are we convinced that there is the demand for schools to grow in these areas, be that pupils or language?

“Are we linking to our Local Development Plan (LDP) and future house building and are we looking on the map, as town A may be closer to town B, but traditionally people living in there go to town C – so it’s an unnatural migration of people.

“Are we convinced that we’re putting them in the right places where we’re going to fill them?”

Ms Evans replied: “The starting point of the SOP is our own priorities.

“We have mapped out the pupil projections for the next 10 years and matched it with housing development.

“We know the capacity of our schools, their condition and where the need is.”

She said that the department now has a “whole range of data” that helps inform school transformation and where the council “goes next.”

Ms Evans continued: “In the current SOP there is reference to area primary schools linked to catchment reviews.

“We will need to look at that as a key strategy for our primary schools.”

The problem, she explained, is that as primary schools are closed, the primary schools designated to absorb the new pupils are filling up.

Ms Evans said: “The answer is merging three, four or five schools together and see if we can build an area school.”

She pointed out that other councils in Wales had gone down this route.

“The capital programme will then need to reflect that blueprint.”

The capital programme update report is set to go before a meeting of the Cabinet on September 22 for noting.

The school building projects mentioned in the report are:

• Brynllywarch Hall School – construction underway, expected completion summer 2027.

• Sennybridge Primary School – construction underway, expected completion October 2027.

• Ysgol Golwg Pen y Fan’s new school building in Brecon – Wilmott Dixon have been appointed as the main contractor on a two-stage design and build contract and are currently undertaking design work, with concept designs expected to be completed by September 2026.

• Ysgol Calon Cymru – Kier Construction have been appointed as the main contractor on a two-stage design and build contract, with design work underway and the concept expected to be completed by the end of October.

• Ysgol Bro Epynt, new Welsh-medium all-age school in Builth Wells – initial designs have been developed and shared with stakeholders, before seeking expressions of interest for a main contractor to carry out the works early next year.

• Ysgol Bro Hyddgen, Machynlleth – following agreement with Welsh Government about the most appropriate procurement route, the tender package was being prepared for issuing at the end of July.

• Ysgol Calon y Dderwen, Newtown – a tender package is being prepared for issuing early in the autumn term.