HC Deb 01 May 1950 vol 474 c166W
Dr. King

asked the Minister of Education what is the minimum space per child for classrooms built in new schools under the Education Act, 1944; and the minimum space per child laid down in. schools built from 1919 onwards.

Mr. Tomlinson

The Regulations prescribing standards for school premises, 1945, made under Section 10 of the Education Act, 1944, do not prescribe the minimum space per child to be provided in classrooms. They do, however, lay down that the minimum areas of classrooms in infant and junior schools shall be 520 square feet, and of classrooms in secondary schools, 480 square feet. Precise information is not available on the second part of the Question, but for a long period of years before 1939 it was the practice of the then Board of Education to assess the accommodation of schools on the basis of infant and junior class units of 50 pupils with a minimum area of 10 square feet per child, and senior class units of 40 with a minimum area of 12 square feet per child.