§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the annual cost of reducing class sizes to 30 or under for pupils in primary years(a) four, (b) five, (c) six and (d) seven; and if he will make a statement. [69415]
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§ Mrs. Liddell[holding answer 8 February 1999]: The table provides an estimate of the additional marginal annual primary teaching costs of reducing classes in primary schools by stage.
Education authority primary schools in Scotland Marginal annual recurrent teaching costs associated with reducing the maximum single stage class size to 30 by each additional stage, September 1997 Additional Stage 1 Marginal Costs (£ million) P4 2.9 P5 3.7 P6 3.2 P7 3.8 1 Based on the number of pupils in each school, as recorded in the September 1997 School Census. These figures show the cost of employing an additional teacher for each new class likely to be created because of a reduction in the class size maximum. In each case, the figure assumes that all earlier stages have been reduced to a maximum of 30 pupils and that current general arrangements in place with respect to composite classes continue. These figures do not include an assessment of the additional capital costs of providing new classrooms.
From 1 July 1999 this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.