Written question asked by David Lidington (Conservative) on Monday, 8 March 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 16 March 2004. It was answered by David Miliband (Labour) on Tuesday, 16 March 2004 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many (a) primary school and (b) secondary school teachers there were per pupil of the relevant age-group in each year since 1997. - Inc table.

Answer: Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary school and (b) secondary school teachers there were per pupil of the relevant age-group in each year since 1997. [160478] Mr. Miliband: The data requested are shown in the table. Maintained primary and secondary schools: pupil:teacher ratios-- England Position in January each year _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Primary Secondary 1997 23.4 16.7 1998 23.7 16.9 1999 23.5 17.0 2000 23.3 17.2 2001 22.9 17.1 2002 22.5 16.9 2003 22.6 17.0 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Source: Annual Schools' Census. The underlying pupil and teacher figures were published on 25 September 2003 in the statistical volume, "Statistics of Education, Schools in England 2003", a copy of which has been placed in the Library. The table is also available on the statistics section of the DfES website at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/ DB/VOL/v000417/index.shtml

Secondary information