HC Deb 23 March 1927 vol 204 cc399-400W
Major GLYN

asked the President of the Board of Education what are the figures for the eight largest cities in England and Wales, and for the rest of the country, indicating the number of boys and girls, respectively, reaching the age of 14 years; what are the anticipated figures based on census returns for such year up to and including 1931; what were the corresponding figures for the past five years; and what is the average number of boys and girls who continue at school until they reach 16 years of age?

Lord E. PERCY

I am afraid that I am unable to supply the information for which my hon. and gallant Friend asks. He will find, however, on pages 108 and 109 of the recent Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Education and Industry some figures, prepared by that Committee, intended to forecast, for England and Wales as a whole, the numbers of children attaining given ages over a series of years. Local variations in mortality and migration would, I understand, make it impossible to prepare similar figures for particular areas. As regards the last part of the question, figures showing the number of pupils in the age group 15–16 in attendance at various types of grant-aided schools and institutions will be found in Table 2 of the Board's Volume of Statistics for 1924–25.