§ Ms Estelle MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to her answer of 14 February, what assessment she has made of external research into the effect of class sizes on(a) pupil progress and (b) attainment levels; and if she will list the main research documents her Department has evaluated in this respect.
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe Department has taken account of relevant research including that summarised in Professor Mortimore's recent paper. There is no evidence from the accumulated research that marginal reductions in class size result in changes in pupils' performance.