§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the average class size at each key stage in schools in(a) rural and (b) urban areas. [109751]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisThe available information on class sizes is shown in the tables. 699W
Average size of classes taught by one teacher in maintained secondary schools by area and by age group in England—January 1999 Urban/Rural classification Ages1 Overall under 14 14 and 15 16 or more Metropolitan 25.0 21.6 10.5 21.9 Urban 25.1 21.6 10.4 21.9 Coalfield2 25.5 22.6 10.4 22.5 Accessible rural 25.4 21.9 10.7 21.8 Remote rural 24.9 21.6 10.1 21.5 All areas 25.1 21.7 10.5 21.9 1 Ages as at the start of the academic year 2 Coalfield is wholly classified as a rural category