Councils will have more scope to close village schools under plans set out in a major report, campaigners have warned.

A key recommendation in a long-awaited review into the future of rural education in Scotland effectively waters down the criteria councils need to meet when proposing closures.

The concern now is that education authorities will no longer have to prove an educational benefit to pupils. Instead, councils will only have to conclude in future that moves to close a school will have a "neutral impact".

Sandy Longmuir, chairman of the Scottish Rural Schools Network, last night said he feared for the future of schools that could be hit by the proposed changes.

He added: "The downgrading of the requirement to show an educational benefit from a reorganisation of the school estate is very disappointing.

"I fear for the future. Successive legislation on education in Scotland has always sought to improve educational standards and the removal of the need to show an improvement is a retrograde step."

The recommendations seen by The Herald are in the final report of the Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education published today.

The body – chaired by Sheriff David Sutherland and including members from local authorities, schools, protest groups and academia – was set up in June 2011 by Michael Russell, the Education Secretary, to smooth tensions between communities and councils in the wake of a number of closure plans.

These included proposals by Argyll and Bute Council to shut one-third of its rural primary schools in a bid to save £15 million by 2014, which sparked a wave of protest.

Mr Longmuir said he believed it would take a change in the law to make the proposal to water down the closure criteria a reality.

"The current legislation is very clear that the local authority is required to list both the intended benefits to a closure proposal and a list of reasons why they think the benefits will result," he added.

However, the commission report highlights concerns from councils that the emphasis placed on educational benefit was "unrealistic".

The report states: "This set a very high bar for closure proposals to reach and created unrealistic expectations in parents that closure would be based solely on educational issues and not affect schools which were providing a high standard of education, but at a high cost per pupil.

"The commission also recognised that the educational difference between schools is more often marginal than decisive and that requiring an authority to magnify small differences in provision has led to tensions between communities within a local authority's area, which benefits no party in these decisions."

The commission report further states it is unrealistic to suggest closure proposals are only made for solely educational reasons and recommended there should be a place for setting out "transparent financial information" in a closure proposal.

Closure of small schools in rural and urban areas has been one of the most contentious issues local government has faced in recent years. Councils facing tighter budgets have brought forward closure plans for schools that are below capacity, arguing they are more expensive to run, with pupils better served educationally in larger schools.

In some cases, families have agreed with the proposals, but in many more parents feel such decisions damage their children's education and the future viability of their communities.

The SNP picked up the issue in its 2007 manifesto for the Scottish Parliament elections and promised a legal presumption against closure. After winning power, the SNP passed laws introducing new safeguards for rural schools.

The 2010 Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act introduced the educational benefits statement and also introduced a new right of appeal to ministers.

However, Cosla, the umbrella organisation for councils, has always believed the legislation went too far.

Cosla has argued schools are not important to the survival of rural communities and drew up plans to scrap the legal right of parents to appeal to the Scottish Government.

There are some 900 rural schools in Scotland, with the majority in the Highlands, Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute and the Scottish Borders.

The only local authority without a rural school is Glasgow.

The schools classified as rural are given extra protection under the Act in recognition of their importance to local communities.