asked the Minister of Education (1) the ratios of grammar school places to total secondary places in London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Stoke-on-Trent and the Isle of Wight, respectively.(2) the ratio of grammar school places to total secondary places in Staffordshire and in the excepted district of Newcastle-under-Lyme, respectively; and how these ratios compare with the national average for England and Wales.

The percentages of 13-year-old children following a grammar school course in secondary schools maintained and assisted by the education authorities within the areas named were as follows in January, 1953; London 20·9; Birmingham 14·2; Cardiff 30·2; Stoke-on-Trent 10·8; Isle of Wight 13·8.35·8 per cent. of the 13-year-old children in maintained and assisted secondary schools in Newcastle-under-Lyme were following a grammar school course in January, 1953, compared with 13·9 per cent. in Staffordshire and 19·4 per cent. in England and Wales as a whole.The figures given above include children from other areas who are being educated in the schools of the authority named, but exclude children in direct-grant grammar schools, in independent schools, and in schools maintained outside the authority's area.