HC Deb 16 February 1990 vol 167 c444W
Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will estimate(a) the percentage and (b) the number of primary schools in England where children are taught one or more foreign languages.

Mrs. Rumbold

Precise figures are not available, but it is estimated that in 1987 about 15 to 20 per cent. of primary schools in England (excluding nursery and infant schools) provide tuition in French for at least some of their pupils. This represents a number of schools in the range 2,500 to 3,300.