HC Deb 03 July 1989 vol 156 c9W
Mr. Walden

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what were the average class sizes in primary and secondary education in state and private schools, respectively, in the years 1979, 1984 and 1988.

Mr. Butcher

Information on class sizes in independent schools is not collected centrally. The average class size in maintained primary and secondary schools in 1979, 1984 and 1988 were as follows:

1979 1984 1988
Primary 25.9 24.7 25.4
Secondary 21.0 20.4 19.9

Classes relate to those taught by one teacher at a selected time on the day of the census count in January and do not necessarily represent the pattern of classes over the academic year as a whole.