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Dept for Education and Employment

Answer

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the average class size was in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) March 1997 and (ii) March 2001 in North Yorkshire. [157868] Ms Estelle Morris: [holding answer 10 April 2001]: The available information is shown in the table. Average class size{1} in maintained primary and secondary schools in North Yorkshire LEA _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Primary Secondary January 2001{2} 25.3 21.1 January 1997 26.3 20.6 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Classes taught by one teacher. {2} Provisional. Information on class sizes as at January 2001 has been published in a Statistical First Release "Class Sizes in Maintained Schools in England January 2001" on 6 April, copies of which are available from the Library, or alternatively can be accessed from the Department for Education and Employment statistical website www.dfee.gov.uk/statistics. Nationally, average class sizes for primary has fallen significantly since 1997. At Key Stage 1 the figure has gone down from 26.9 in 1997 to 25.2 in 2001. At Key Stage 2 the figure has gone down from 28.1 in 1997 to 27.9 in 2001. This is a reflection of the fact that delivery of our infant class size pledge is not being achieved at the expense of bigger junior classes. More generally at secondary level, the 2001 figures show that class sizes nationally have stabilised after a decade of rises. As for the pupil/teacher ratio in secondary schools, the number of pupils in secondary schools rose between 1991 and 1997 and between 1997 and 2001 by just under 190,000 nationally in both sets of years--yet the increase in the pupil/teacher ratio nationally in secondary schools was three times greater between 1991 and 1997 than it was between 1997 and 2001. Indeed, the 2001 figures show that the secondary pupil/teacher ratio has in fact improved for the first time in 10 years and now stands at 17.1.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

367 c109W; 157868

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Class sizes Primary education Secondary education North Yorkshire

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk