§ Mr. Hordernasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table showing the staff to pupil ratio in both primary and secondary schools in each of the last 10 years; and how many teachers will be required in each of the next five years to retain the same ratio as at the latest convenient date.
§ Dr. BoysonThe pupil-teacher ratios for England for each of the last 10 years are as follows:
Pupils per qualified teacher within maintained schools At January of each year Primary Secondary 1972 26.2 17.6 1973 25.5 17.1 1974 24.9 17.5 1975 24.2 17.2 1976 24.0 17.0 1977 23.9 17.0 1978 23.6 16.9 1979 23.1 16.7 1980 22.7 16.6 1981 22.6 16.6 The 1981 ratios were achieved within a total teacher force for nursery, primary and secondary schools of 429, 000 full-time-equivalent staff. The teacher numbers required to hold the January 1981 ratios steady over the following five years, including the small number of staff not counted in the pupil-teacher ratios, are projected—to the nearest thousand—as 418, 000 in 1982, 406, 000 in 1983, 394, 000 in 1984, 385, 000 in 1985 and 377, 000 in 1986.
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average pupil-teacher ratio for each local education authority within the West Yorkshire metropolitan county council and the Greater Manchester metropolitan council; and how these figures compare with the average pupil-teacher ratio for schools in England as a whole.
§ Dr. BoysonI refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 January 1982 to my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield and Tamworth (Mr. Heddle).