HC Deb 10 May 2001 vol 368 cc271-2W
Mr. Paul Marsden

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many school classes of five to seven-year-olds with over 30 pupils there were in Shrewsbury and Atcham in each year since 1992; and if he will make a statement. [160508]

Ms Estelle Morris

[holding answer 9 May 2001]: The available information is shown in the following table. Information on class sizes by parliamentary constituency is not available prior to 1997.

Shrewsbury and Atcham parliamentary constituency
Number of:
Year Key stage 1 classes with 31 or more pupils Pupils in key stage classes of 31 or more
1997 20 648
1998 18 577
1999 9 285
2000 4 125
20011 0 0
1Provisional

Note:

Classes taught by one teacher

The Government pledged to limit infant classes to 30. We have already delivered that pledge early for the vast majority of infants, including in the Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency. This has been achieved with the help of substantial funding made available under the class size initiative—allocations to Shropshire LEA alone amount to some £3[...].5 million.