§ Mr. John Pageasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children are at maintained boarding schools; how many of these are at the primary age, under 16 and over 16 years of age, respectively; and what is the cost per annum per child at each age group.
§ Miss Bacon:In January, 1969 there were 25,000 boarding pupils at maintained schools in England and Wales. 270 were at primary schools, 10,950 at secondary schools and 13,780 at special schools for handicapped pupils. No figures are available for the separate numbers of boarders under and over 16. My Department does not collect figures for the cost per pupil in maintained boarding schools. In their First Report, the Public Schools Commission recorded that in 1967 the average boarding cost per pupil was probably something over £210 per annum.