HC Deb 03 April 1984 vol 57 c516W
Mr. Patrick Thompson

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers local education authorities employed in January 1984; and what is his estimate of the pupil to teacher ratio.

Sir Keith Joseph

In January 1984 local education authorities in England employed the full-time equivalent of 410,500 teachers for service in nursery, primary and secondary schools. On the basis of projected pupil numbers I estimate that the overall ratio of pupils to teachers was 17.8.