§ Mr. Mossasked the Minister of Education what information he has available on the number of secondary 166W pupils in comprehensive schools staying on beyond the statutory school-leaving age.
§ Mr. Geoffrey LloydThe information is as follows:
NUMBERS OF PUPILS IN COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS Year (January) Aged 15 and over All pupils 1955 … … 2,121 15,891 1956 … … 3,303 27,315 1957 … … 5,449 42,416 1958 … … 11,384 75,081 NOTE: As explained on page 30 of the Annual Report for 1958, a number of schools formerly classified as "bilateral" have been reclassified as "comprehensive" and the figures for 1958 are not therefore comparable with those for previous years.
§ Mr. Mossasked the Minister of Education to what extent sixth forms have expanded in comprehensive schools; and how this expansion compares with selective schools.
§ Mr. Geoffrey LloydThe information is as follows:
Year (January) Number of sixth-form pupils in the 27 schools classified as comprehensive throughout the period 1956–59 Number of sixth-form pupils in grammar schools and streams 1956 … 506 65,002 1957 … 598 68,611 1958 … 713 70,281 1959 … 904 77,000 (est.) Any comparison of the rate of growth would be misleading because most of the comprehensive schools are new schools which had relatively few older pupils in the earlier years.