Written question asked by Paul Marsden (Labour) on Wednesday, 2 May 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 10 May 2001. It was answered by Baroness Morris of Yardley (Labour) on Thursday, 10 May 2001 on behalf of the Department for Education and Employment.

Dept for Education and Employment

Question: 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. - Includes table. (Holding answer 9 May 2001).

Answer: 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 2001{1} 0 0 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Provisional 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.

Secondary information