asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of children aged 4 years is receiving nursery education at the present time; and what form this education takes.

Nursery education in England is provided both in maintained nursery schools and in nursery classes attached to maintained primary schools. Four times as many children attend nursery classes as attend nursery schools. Estimates for January 1976 indicate that about 12 per cent. of 4-yearolds were then receiving nursery education, three-quarters of these part time. A further 42 per cent. of 4-year-olds were attending ordinary infant classes in primary schools, almost all full time; of these more than half were rising fives.