More than 50 schools face closure in Wales

ITV Wales has obtained figures showing more than 50 schools are earmarked for closure in Wales as councils juggle their budgets.

Beguildy primary school was described as the 'heart of the community' before it was forced to close in 2013.

Powys County Council decided that it could no longer afford to keep it open, a decision that devastated campaigners who fought against the closure.

There has been lots of local opposition to keep small rural schools open. Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

Our Education Reporter Megan Boot has been finding out what the closure of the school has meant for the community:

Some children now have to travel over the border to go to school in England. Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

But Powys is not the only area in Wales that's faced tough decisions when it comes to the funding of schools, with around half of the local authorities in Wales facing school closures.

ITV Wales has obtained figures showing that more than 50 schools are earmarked for closure as council's attempt to cut their budgets.

Some closures also relate to plans to create schools for 3 - 19 year olds, by merging primary and secondary schools.

There are also plans for more than 16 new schools to be built across the country.

The Welsh Government says they "understand the challenges that rural schools face" and try to allocate their funding to local government by "taking into account the additional costs".

They also say despite UK Government cuts to their budget, they have made an additional "£106 million available for Welsh schools...with an additional £40m next year."

Watch the coverage from Wales at Six below:

More from ITV News: Three primary schools to close in Pembrokeshire Campaigners warn communities will 'die' if rural schools close