Last years A-Level results saw Powys pupils well below the Wales average again

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Learning and Skills scrutiny committee on Friday, February 13, councillors and independent lay members will receive a report which gives the pupil performance for both A-Levels and GCSEs.

The report shows that the number of pupils in Powys achieving the top  A* (star) and A results was at 24.7 per cent which is below the Wales average of 29.9 per cent.

This is slightly better than August 2024, when Powys scored 24.5 per cent compared with the Wales average of 30 per cent. The gap has now narrowed to 5.2 per cent, down from 5.5 per cent.

The number of pupils in Powys receiving A to C grades was 72.8 per cent this year, which was a drop from 73.1 per cent.

Wales-wide, the A to C results were 78.6 per cent, which is up from 78 per cent last year and sees the gap at this range with Powys widen from 4.9 per cent to 5.8 per cent.

This performance also sees Powys ranked 14 out of the 20 Welsh local authorities that provide sixth form education.

The report said: “The evidence points to a clear and continuing decline in post-16 outcomes in Powys, alongside a widening gap with national performance.

“A-level attainment within Powys’s schools in 2024/2025 displays a continued pattern of declining performance.”

But on the flip side of the coin, results at GCSE level are getting better.

The number of Powys youngsters achieving the top A* (star) and A grade result was 21.3 per cent.

This above the Wales average of 20 per cent and up from 19.1 per cent in 2024.

The number of youngsters achieving A to C grades saw Powys pupils achieve 68.9 per cent – again above the Wales average of 63.9 per cent and up from 67.7 per cent in 2024.

The report said: “Standards at GCSE have improved, particularly in the proportion of learners achieving A*-C grades, where Powys is performing above the national average.

“However, performance varies significantly between schools and between different groups of learners, meaning that not all young people are benefiting equally from these gains.”

With a wholesale re-organisation of post-16 education on the cards which could see all Powys secondary and all through schools lose their individual sixth forms, the committee will need to ask why success at GCSE is not being translated to A-levels.

The report said: “Overall, the performance of Powys schools presents a mixed picture, with strengths emerging in some areas but continued inconsistency in others.

“Standards at GCSE have improved, particularly in the proportion of learners achieving A*-C grades, where Powys is performing above the national average.

“There are continuing concerns at post-16., A-level results have declined for several years, and Powys is now performing below the Wales average on all main measures.

“Fewer are staying in school sixth forms with more choosing college or work-based training instead.”