§ Mr. David Priceasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is her latest projection of the number of pupils aged 5 years and over in maintained primary and secondary schools in England and Wales for each of the next 20 years; and what are the comparable figures for the on-metropolitan county of Hampshire.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonThe latest projection of the number of pupils aged 5 and over in maintained primary and secondary schools in England and Wales is as folows:
Year (January) No. of pupils (000s) 1976 … … … … 8,663* 1977 … … … … 8,673 1978 … … … … 8,607 1979 … … … … 8,475 1980 … … … … 8,298 1981 … … … … 8,068 1982 … … … … 7,823 1983 … … … … 7,574 1984 … … … … 7,339 1985 … … … … 7,135 1986 … … … … 6,974 1987 … … … … 6,871 1988 … … … … 6,807 1989 … … … … 6,802 1990 … … … … 6,854 1991 … … … … 6,953 1992 … … … … 7,092 1993 … … … … 7,262 1994 … … … … 7,452 1995 … … … … 7,650 1996 … … … … 7,842 * Actual There were 256,000 such children at school in the county of Hampshire at January 1976. I understand from the Hampshire authority that its best estimates for the numbers in 1981, 1986 and 1991 are 245,000; 230,000; and 240,000, respectively.