HC Deb 02 May 1978 vol 949 cc17-8W
Mr. Richard Wainwright

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what her Department considers to be the numbers of students necessary to make a sixth form unit educationally viable.

Miss Margaret Jackson

As my right hon. Friend replied to a question by the hon. Member for Banbury on 18th April 1978,I have to look at every proposal for the establishment of a sixth form on its merits. But my concern is that there should be an adequate range of courses without uneconomic staffing or at the expense of the rest of the school. This suggests normally a minimum of 70 pupils and preferably 100."—[Official Report, 18th April 1978.]