No decisions have been made to close any sixth forms in Powys, senior councillors have stressed.

Instead, the thorny issue of post-16 education in Powys, which now includes education from the age of 14 upwards, has been kicked into touch as a problem for a new administration to deal with after next year’s local elections.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Cabinet on 24 March, cabinet members were given an update on the review of post-16 education.

This sees a change of emphasis following discussions with schools, parents, and other interested parties.

From 1 October to 30 November, Powys Council held an “engagement” exercise and asked people for views on post-16 education.

This consultation received 3,739 responses.

Last year, it was revealed that a radical shake-up of post-16 education in Powys, which could see all sixth forms in their schools axed, was being considered.

This is because Powys pupils are not performing as well as expected at A-Level.

The preferred option, which has now been put on the back burner, would see a sixth form college set up with one board of governors and management team across two sites in Brecon and Newtown.

This idea went down like a lead balloon and saw a “Save Our Sixth Form” campaign start at Crickhowell High School, while Ysgol Llanfyllin, Ysgol Bro Caereinion in Llanfair Caereinion, and Welshpool High School in the north of the county say they will work together on a shared sixth form model.

Education portfolio holder Cllr James Gibson-Watt said: “This is an issue that has been rumbling in the background for a good 20 years, and it has fallen to this administration to address the issues that should have been dealt with many years ago.

“There is no question about the need for reform; the question is what form that will take.”

Cllr Gibson-Watt said that pupils “want to see a broader-based, high-quality curriculum, and that might not be a surprise.”

“They also have significant objections to having to move from one school to another during the day, and they do love the nature of local provision in many respects,” he added.

He added that while changes may take place in the future, the current model needs to be strengthened “to arrest the decline” of results in the county.

This will see further education colleges work with groups of secondary schools to provide more vocational courses as part of the subjects on offer to pupils.

Cabinet member Cllr Jackie Charlton said that she had received lots of correspondence on this issue.

Cllr Charlton said: “What we are delivering here is really important to them; we are listening and have taken notice of a lot of the things that have been said.

“I want to ensure them that no decisions have been made.”

Cabinet unanimously agreed that: “the review should now focus on whole‑system reform that integrates schools, further education, and training providers, with sector‑aligned pathways into higher education and employment, with parity for academic and vocational routes.”