Class Sizes (Hansard, 30 October 2000)

§ Ms Estelle Morris

The available information on average class sizes collected in January for the parliamentary constituency of Taunton is shown in the tables. Information on average class sizes by individual ages and by parliamentary constituency is not available prior to 1996.

The Government are well on course to deliver their pledge to limit infant classes for five, six and seven-year-olds to 30 or below by September 2001. When the Government came to power, there were nearly half a million children in large infant classes. By January 2000, this had been reduced to 177,000–300,000 infants are already benefiting from the initiative. £620 million is available to support the pledge, and allocations to schools in Taunton so far amount to £579,000. This helped Somerset LEA to reduce the average size of Key Stage 1 classes in the constituency to 26.7 in January 2000. In January 1997, the figure was 27.4.

January 2000 also saw a fall in the size of the average junior class in England; and a continuing fall in the size of the average primary class, after rising for a decade. The size of the average secondary class nationally, at 22, is still five below the average primary class. Secondary headteachers are receiving up to £70,000 in direct grant to spend as they choose. If this were spent on recruiting teachers, the average secondary class size could be reduced by up to 0.8. Information at national and local 283W education authority area level on infant class sizes for September 2000 will be published in a Statistical First Release on the 1^st November, copies of which will be

Average size of classes taught by one teacher by year group in maintained primary schools¹ in the parliamentary constituency of Taunton 1996–2000 Position as at January
	Year group
	Reception	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Mixed	Overall²
2000³
Average class size	25.9	27.7	28.7	29.6	28.7	30.9	30.6	⁴—	—	28.4
Pupils	855	415	517	444	431	495	490	⁴—	4,117	7,798
Classes	33	15	18	15	15	16	16	⁴—	145	275
1999³
Average class size	26.2	28.1	28.6	29.1	29.5	28.8	28.1	⁴—	29.2	28.9
Pupils	1,020	451	522	571	517	471	463	⁴—	4,144	8,212
Classes	39	16	18	19	17	15	15	⁴—	142	284
1998³
Average class size	25.6	28.7	29.6	30.9	31.1	30.8	33.1	⁵—	28.7	28.8
Pupils	920	516	533	433	436	370	397	⁵—	4,340	8,004
Classes	36	18	18	14	14	12	12	⁵—	151	278
1997³
Average class size	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	28.4
Pupils	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	7,773
Classes	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	274
1996³
Average class size	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	28.0
Pupils	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	7,481
Classes	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	⁵—	267
¹Classes as taught at a selected time on the census day
²Includes all year groups and nursery classes
³Excludes classes taught by two or more teachers. The number of such classes can vary significantly from year to year which may impact on the overall pupil numbers recorded in one teacher classes
⁴Not applicable (no classes of this type)
⁵Not available

Average size of classes taught by one teacher by age band in maintained secondary schools¹ in the parliamentary constituency of Taunton 1996–2000 Position as at January
	Ages²
	Middle classes	Mainly under 14s	Mainly 14 and 15	16 or older	Overall
2000
Average class size	17.0	26.8	21.8	³—	24.5
Pupils	102	3,431	2,026	³—	5,559
Classes	6	128	93	³—	227
1999
Average class size	29.0	26.0	21.8	³—	24.3
Pupils	29	3,281	1,965	³—	5,275
Classes	1	126	90	³—	217
1998
Average class size	22.3	25.5	22.9	³—	24.4
Pupils	89	3,188	2,018	³—	5,295
Classes	4	125	88	³—	217
1997
Average class size	18.1	24.2	22.7	³—	23.4
Pupils	127	3,071	2,041	³—	5,239
Classes	7	127	90	³—	224
1996
Average class size	17.8	24.9	22.3	³—	23.5
Pupils	142	2,767	1,982	³—	4,891
Classes	8	111	89	³—	208
¹Classes as taught at a selected time on the census day
²Ages as the start of the academic year (August 31)
³Not applicable (no classes of this type)

284W

placed in the House of Commons Library. The figures will also be available on the Department's statistical website www.dfee.gov.uk/statistics.