A “radical and ambitious” overhaul of sixth forms in Powys will be unveiled later this year, an education chief has said.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Finance Panel on Friday, January 31 ,the future of post-16 education was brought up for discussion.

Powys suffers from a brain drain, with hundreds of teenagers leaving the county each day to follow further education courses elsewhere.

Councillors were told that this year Powys schools received around £4 million from the Welsh Government to teach sixth formers.

Welsh Government funding for post-16 education follows the student and it will be given to the institution they are studying at.

This means that Powys schools miss out when pupils opt to study elsewhere after their GCSEs.

Panel chairman and Conservative group leader, Cllr Aled Davies asked whether it would be possible “to do a job of work” to understand the impact these lost students have on the council’s finances.

Director of corporate services Jane Thomas said that she would need to do some research on how difficult it would be before “committing” to do it.

Powys Independent Cllr Jeremy Pugh said: “Post-16 education is our biggest challenge.

“We need to grasp the nettle; we’re still no further on than we were six or seven years ago.”

Cllr Pugh added that he knew of students that left Builth Wells at 6.10am to attend Hereford Sixth Form College, getting back home for 7pm.

Cllr Pugh said: “This is shocking to me - our post-16 education needs to start looking outside the norm and give them the chance to stay local.”

Head of schools transformation Marianne Evans told the committee that a “strategic review” of post-16 education in the county is being conducted.

Ms Evans said: “The current model is that we have 12 sixth forms which was approved in 2021.

“Whilst the model has improved collaboration, co-ordination and planning of the post 16 curriculum, the financial position for next year is difficult for us.

“We’re not able to look at improving the curriculum offer.

“We will be bringing papers to cabinet later on this spring around our post-16.”

Cllr Davies said: “Watch this space is what you’re saying, there will be some difficult decision brought forward?”

Ms Evans said: “It is time to take some courageous ambitious steps with our post-16, we have not taken decisions when we should have.

“We can’t cut any further, it’s death by 1,000 cuts in our schools and sixth forms.

“It’s an opportunity to do something radical and ambitious.”

Recommendation from the panel will be included in the draft budget papers that will be voted on by councillors at a full council meeting later this month.

The last time figures on the topic were given to councillors was back in 2020.

At the time they were told that an estimated 500 youngsters from Powys were leaving the county daily to continue their education in Shrewsbury, Hereford, Cheshire, Denbighshire, Neath Port Talbot, and elsewhere.

Between 2010 and 2019, the number of pupils in Powys sixth forms dropped from 1,445 to 978.

Correspondingly, funding from the Welsh Government based on pupils numbers for this period dropped from £6.5 million to £4.4 million.