asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the total capacity in terms of annual intake of teacher training colleges in England and Wales.

The total present capacity of the colleges of education, including colleges of education (technical), and departments of education in polytechnics is some 115,000 places. The annual intake capacity depends on the distribution of students among courses of varying duration. The number admitted to courses of initial training in 1971 was 44,400.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the overall failure rate for students at teacher training colleges in England and Wales last year.

The figures for 1971 are not available. The failure rate for students on three-year courses ending in 1970 was 14·8 per cent. of these 3·4 per cent. failed the final examination and 11·5 per cent. withdrew from the course at an earlier stage.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers qualified from teacher training colleges in England and Wales last year.

The 1971 figure is not yet available. In 1970, 33,045 students successfully completed courses of initial training in colleges and departments of education, and thus became eligible for qualified teacher status.