§ Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many middle schools, educating children aged 9 to 12 years, have closed since 1979; and what was their total combined roll and teaching staff immediately prior to closure.
§ Dr. BoysonThe information is not available in the form requested. Since the Education Act 1980 came into force, approval has been given to 44 proposals affecting 74 middle schools, 51 of which were kept in use to form26W schools of another kind. The number of pupils on roll at the 23 middle schools which actually closed was 4,740. Information on teacher numbers is not available.