HC Deb 27 July 2000 vol 354 cc858-9W
Mr. Evans

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the average(a) primary and (b) secondary school class size was for each school year in the Ribble Valley since 1994. [132720]

Ms Estelle Morris

[holding answer 26 July 2000]The requested information is shown in the following table.

The Government are well on target to deliver its infant class size pledge. Some £620 million is available to support the pledge and allocations so far to Lancashire LEA amount to some £15 million. This has helped to reduce the average infant class in Ribble Valley constituency to 24.8. In January 1997 the figure was 28.0. Over the same period, the average size of junior classes in the constituency has fallen from 30.5 to 30.4. Average secondary class sizes in the constituency have remained broadly stable over this period. Secondary classes nationally have been rising steadily for the last 12 years. In 1988 the figure was 19.9. In the budget, secondary headteachers received between £30,000 and £50,000 each to spend as they choose. If they spent it on teachers, they could reduce the secondary pupil:teacher ratio by 0.4.

Average size of one teacher classes in maintained primary and secondary schools in the Ribble Valley parliamentary constituency area:1994–2000 1
Position as at January each year
Key Stage 1 Key Stage 2 Primary 2 Secondary
Average class size Number of pupils in classes of 31 or more Average class size Average class size Average class size
2000 24.8 300 30.4 27.8 22.3
1999 25.9 771 30.2 28.1 22.3
1998 28.0 1,518 30.3 29.0 22.4
1997 28.0 1,428 30.5 29.1 22.3
1996 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
1995 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
1994 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
n/a = Not available
1 Provisional
2 Includes nursery classes and mixed key stage classes