Education will be sacrificed and diluted if radical plans to shake up secondary schools in Powys go ahead, it was claimed today.

Powys County Council has unveiled a shortlist of options to cope with falling pupil numbers and financial deficits, which include the possibility of closures.

But the Powys branch of the National Union of Teachers fear such a move could lead to job losses and damage the county’s education provision.

It said it will now be doing all it could to keep all 13 high schools and every sixth form in the county open.

Last week the council revealed a list of options, which include keeping seven schools open and closing six or closing one and keeping 12 open. It also includes scrapping sixth forms and having seven schools on 13 sites with streamlined management.

Mary Compton, joint secretary of Powys NUT, said: “We need to start making our concerns very public now, most importantly to get the ridiculous six school option off the table, and that there are all sorts of other things we need to fight as well. What we need is the guarantee that all schools and sixth forms will remain open.”