§ Mr. HawkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what are the figures for January 1994 for teacher numbers and vacancies; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe Department's annual survey of teacher numbers and vacancies in maintained schools including grant-maintained schools shows that full-time equivalent teacher numbers in England rose by nearly 1,900 between January 1993 and January 1994. The vacancy rate of 0.4 per cent. equals last year's lowest-ever recorded rate. The numbers involved equate to one vacancy for every 16 schools, a four-fold improvement on the position in 1990.
Provisional teacher numbers in LEA-maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools and self-governing 546W state schools rose by 0.5 per cent. from 389,100 full-time equivalent teachers in January 1993 to nearly 391,000. The estimated overall pupil to teacher ratio was 18.04:1.