§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many persons have left school in the last year between their fifteenth and sixteenth birthdays; how many persons have left school in this age category between successive Septembers in each of the last 10 years; and in each case, including the current year, what percentage each of these figures is of the total in that 15 to 16 age group.
§ Mr. St. John-StevasThe following figures, which are for England and Wales, include some leavers who had not yet reached their fifteenth birthday when they left school. The population figures relate to those aged 15 at 1st January within the appropriate year, the nearest approximation to the academic year population aged 15 to 16 that is available.
Year (1) Leavers aged under 16* ('000) (2) Population aged 15 at 1st January ('000) (1) as a percentage of (2) 1962–63 … … … … … … 438.1 830 52.8 1963–64 … … … … … … 401.0 749 53.5 1964–65 … … … … … … 368.6 704 52.4 1965–66 … … … … … … 343.0 673 51.0 1966–67 … … … … … … 314.1 656 47.9 1967–68 … … … … … … 305.5 651 46.9 1968–69 … … … … … … 297.4 661 45.0 1969–70 … … … … … … 286.0 655 43.7 1970–71 … … … … … … 282.6 649 43.6 1971–72 … … … … … … 293.4 696 42.1 * Leavers from all schools except special schools and independent schools not recognised as efficient.