§ Mr. Thomas Coxasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many schoolchildren are due to leave school in each of the years to 1990 for each region of the United Kingdom.
§ Dr. BoysonProjections of school leavers are not made in the level of detail requested. However, projections for England as a whole, to be published shortly by my Department, will show a decline beginning in 1982 and reaching 20 per cent. by 1990. It seems likely that all regions will experience some such decline. The most recent factual information on the regions is as follows:
Regions Number of school leavers in 1978–79 (000's) North 52.52 Yorkshire and Humberside 79.52 North-West 108.74 East Midlands 61.04 West Midlands 85.42 East Anglia 26.79 Greater London 99.31 Other South-East 157.75 South-West 66.28 Total ENGLAND 737.37 Statistics relating to schoolchildren in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are the responsibilities of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.