A GWYNEDD primary school with just two pupils will close at the end of the summer term.
Cyngor Gwynedd’s cabinet voted this week to close Ysgol Y Garreg in Penrhyndeudraeth on August 31, 2026.
The school currently has two pupils, both in year six. Council figures show there are no pupils in the nursery, reception, or years one to five.
The remaining two pupils are leaving to join a secondary school in September.
Ysgol Cefn Coch will now become the designated alternative school for the catchment area from September 1, 2026.
Cabinet Member for Education Cllr Dewi Jones said the proposal was one of the most difficult decisions he had faced.
“Nobody goes into education in order to close schools,” he said. “Our ambition is to see schools thriving, children succeeding, and communities staying strong.”
He paid tribute to the staff, governors, parents, and community, saying Ysgol Y Garreg had served the area faithfully for over a century.
But he said the council had a responsibility to consider the current situation facing the school. “The demographic challenges facing some of our rural communities are real,” he said.
“However painful it is to acknowledge that, we cannot ignore the facts before us, and in the specific position of Ysgol Y Garreg, it is impossible to ignore the seriousness of the situation.”
Cllr Jones added educational decisions must place children’s welfare at the centre of the process, ensuring access to sustainable education and a learning environment capable of meeting pupils’ needs.
He added: “This is not a decision the cabinet wants to make, but it’s a decision that certain circumstances have led us to.”
The councillor said Gwynedd had experienced a significant reduction in the number of children over the past decade and that the authority had a duty to make responsible long-term decisions. “So today, I recommend we make this decision, but with a heavy heart,” he said.
Supporting the recommendation, Cllr June Jones described the situation as sad. “It is a situation that no councillor wants to face, ever,” she said.
She said Ysgol Y Garreg had been “a key part of the community for over a century” and had provided excellent education.
Cllr Jones noted that the school’s remaining two pupils would leave year six this summer and move to secondary education in September, which was “an extremely sad situation”.
“As in other parts of Gwynedd and the Western world as a whole, the number of children has reduced significantly, and, of course, that affects the number of pupil numbers on the register,” she said.
This led to a debate around a downward trend in the number of children attending schools across the county and how this could affect other small schools in the future.
Cllr Dilwyn Morgan raised concerns about the Welsh language but said there might be more opportunities for the children moving to a larger school where the Welsh language would be “a more natural part of their lives”.
Cllr Dewi Jones said in 2016 Cyngor Gwynedd had around 9,000 children in its primary schools, which had dropped to “just over 7,800”.
“That’s a substantial reduction, and in light of that, we can’t just continue as we are. It forces us to have to change things.”
The cabinet approved the proposal to close the school on August 31, 2026, with a unanimous decision by the voting members, excluding Cllr June Jones, who did not vote, having declared an interest.
