asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the present estimate of the number of pupils who will be in State schools in September 1975; and what was the comparable figure in 1974.

School pupil numbers are counted as at January. The estimated number of pupils in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools at January 1975 and January 1976 is 9,032,600 and 9,087,100 respectively. Within these totals the number of pupils of primary age is expected to decrease from 4,828,500 to 4,754,000 and the number of pupils of secondary age to increase from 3,809,500 to 3,913,100.