Welsh schools set to have admission numbers reduced as pupil numbers continue to fall

Alec Doyle, Local democracy reporter

Plans to reduce the capacity of both Ysgol Maes y Mynydd and Penygelli Community Primary School will be laid out at two drop-in sessions this month.

Both schools are the latest to have their Published Admission Numbers (PAN) cut by Wrexham County Borough Council as pupil numbers continue to fall.

The Authority is planning two drop-in sessions in the community for people to go through the plans and find out more about why the council intends to reduce the PAN before the consultation process ends on February 2.

Officers will be at Plas Pentwyn Resource Centre, Castle Road, Coedpoeth tomorrow (Tuesday, January 13) between 9.30am and 12.30pm to present the plans for Penygelli. The proposals for Ysgol Maes Y Mynydd will feature in a drop-in session at The Stiwt on Broad Street, Rhosllanerchrugog on Tuesday, January 20, also between 9.30am and 12.30pm.

There are currently 101 surplus pupil places at Ysgol Maes y Mynydd – a school with a capacity of 357. Wrexham Council’s Education Department is proposing reducing the PAN from 51 pupils to 45.

Penygelli School currently has 87 surplus places and a capacity of 315 pupils. The number of surplus places at the school has more than doubled in the last five years – there were just 30 vacant spots there in 2020/21. Here the council intends to cut the annual intake from 45 pupils to 30.

According to the council, pupil numbers have been falling across Wrexham for some time.

“Pupil numbers have decreased overall in Wrexham schools over the past five years and are expected to continue decreasing,” it said. “As a result, the proportion of surplus places across the county will continue to increase.

“During the period up to 2028, Wrexham’s population is expected to decrease by 1.5%. Between the last two censuses (held in 2011 and 2021), the population of Wrexham increased by just 0.2%, from just over 134,800 in 2011 to around 135,100 in 2021 – a smaller percentage than the overall population of Wales.”