§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the private schools which educated service personnel's children at public cost and the number of such pupils and the cost per pupil at each school in the last year for which figures are available. [36693]
§ Dr. ReidThe names of boarding schools at which service children are educated at public expense are contained in the Ministry of Defence Admissible Schools List. The list includes both private schools and state maintained boarding schools, and a copy of the list was placed in the Library in November 1996. The list is currently being updated and a copy will be placed in the Library shortly. The average cost per pupil at each school is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, however the total cost to my Department of education allowances during financial year 1996–97, the last year for which figures are available, was £87.5m and the average number of children for who the allowance was claimed in the same year was 9,833. The overall average cost per pupil was £8,899.