Class Sizes

HC Deb 23 October 1990 vol 178 cc165-6W

Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the average size of secondary and primary school classes in 1979–80, 1984–85 and 1990–91.

Mr. Fallon

Information for 1990–91 is not yet available. The average class sizes in 1979–80, 1984–85 and 1989–90 in maintained primary and secondary schools in England were as follows:

	11979–80	11984–85	11989–90 provisional
Primary2	25.4	24.9	25.9
Secondary2	20.9	20.4	20.0

¹ January 1980, 1985 and 1990 respectively.

² Includes middle schools as deemed

The average class sizes relate to those taught by one teacher during a selected period on the day of the schools census in January and do not necessarily represent the pattern of classes for the academic year as a whole.