Class Sizes

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table showing the number of classes and of pupils in classes in each local education authority with 30 and under, 31 to 35, 36 to 40 and over 40 pupils per class for primary and secondary schools in 1979, 1981 and 1984 respectively.

[pursuant to his reply, 29 April 1985, c. 5]: The information for 1979 was set out in my reply of 6 July 1984 to my hon. Friend the member for Nuneaton (Mr. Stevens) at columns 315–28. The information for both 1981 and 1984 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The latest information for January 1984, however, is set out in the following table.

	Size of class taught by one teacher
	0–30		31–35		36–40		41 and over
	Classes	Pupils	classes	Pupils	Classes	Pupils	Classes	Pupils
Birmingham	2,519	58,339	844	27,693	38	1,420	1	51
Coventry	728	16,375	227	7,373	27	991	0	0
Dudley	834	19,009	194	6,262	9	340	2	112
Sandwell	870	19,703	187	6,057	11	412	2	236
Solihull	500	11,512	140	4,588	12	440	1	91
Walsall	906	18,960	79	2,553	7	256	2	83
Wolverhampton	918	18,704	52	1,673	4	150	2	84
Knowsley	501	11,533	92	2,994	9	327	2	99
Liverpool	1,514	33,982	199	6,421	19	704	2	83
St. Helens	514	11,565	125	4,082	25	945	3	125
Sefton	744	17,536	183	5,945	8	289	0	0
Wirral	862	20,181	206	6,701	20	737	0	0
Bolton	596	13,796	218	7,098	41	1,540	8	405
Bury	422	9,504	119	3,880	14	513	0	0
Manchester	1,173	27,385	220	7,144	24	895	3	139
Oldham	560	12,542	187	6,133	27	997	5	213
Rochdale	559	13,014	110	3,571	7	259	1	41
Salford	760	17,372	69	2,225	6	224	3	149
Stockport	697	17,197	155	5,040	15	551	0	0
Tameside	552	12,993	159	5,171	19	713	2	85
Trafford	465	10,588	126	4,110	12	438	2	94
Wigan	854	19,234	153	4,967	37	1,388	2	137
Barnsley	696	16,091	59	1,874	3	110	0	0
Doncaster	951	21,355	64	2,044	7	271	0	0
Rotherham	779	18,257	99	3,196	9	351	0	0
Sheffield	1,645	36,818	83	2,666	14	525	3	124
Bradford	1,119	25,593	99	3,155	7	263	0	0
Calderdale	625	14,040	98	3,176	4	148	0	0
Kirklees	966	21,741	257	8,366	37	1,369	2	186
Leeds	1,423	33,227	283	9,154	48	1,814	9	417
Wakefield	740	17,162	120	3,844	13	486	1	41
Gateshead	762	16,168	18	568	2	77	2	96
Newcastle upon Tyne	792	16,113	38	1,204	2	72	2	83
North Tyneside	610	12,183	34	1,085	3	114	0	0
South Tyneside	507	11,336	34	1,095	2	73	0	0
Sunderland	948	21,862	133	4,325	3	109	1	97
Isles of Scilly	9	123	0	0	0	0	0	0
Avon	1,690	39,919	825	26,857	75	2,750	1	42
Bedfordshire	984	22,773	270	8,754	33	1,236	3	173
Berkshire	1,551	36,555	431	14,011	50	1,831	2	87
Buckinghamshire	1,480	34,871	549	17,852	80	2,957	6	279
Cambridgeshire	1,436	34,479	414	13,425	37	1,361	0	0
Cheshire	2,232	51,377	642	20,862	91	3,371	9	393
Cleveland	1,811	42,382	189	6,115	32	1,224	1	42
Cornwall	963	21,857	327	10,633	40	1,484	2	84
Cumbria	1,442	31,372	176	5,645	11	400	0	0
Derbyshire	2,271	51,273	511	16,629	71	2,625	3	132
Devon	1,999	46,083	520	16,949	113	4,206	0	0
Dorset	898	20,334	338	11,047	80	2,964	2	82
Durham	1,697	39,932	275	8,910	14	514	2	131
East Sussex	1,411	32,413	274	8,879	12	440	1	41
Essex	3,254	79,952	1,127	36,105	19	691	2	98
Gloucestershire	1,105	25,121	380	12,356	32	1,171	2	87
Hampshire	3,035	73,028	1,280	41,773	106	3,899	2	85
Hereford and Worcester	1,065	25,205	474	15,484	54	1,987	0	0
Hertfordshire	2,352	54,226	538	17,453	42	1,544	4	171
Humberside	2,447	54,519	237	7,603	17	635	7	307
Isle of Wight	186	4,629	27	869	7	254	0	0
Kent	2,763	66,521	1,212	39,497	112	4,117	2	104
Lancashire	3,166	73,902	934	30,512	154	5,701	9	405
Leicestershire	2,447	55,849	349	11,271	17	645	7	343
Lincolnshire	1,214	28,062	416	13,603	61	2,251	1	42
Norfolk	2,002	45,335	372	12,077	13	472	1	41
North Yorkshire	1,635	35,670	330	10,734	44	1,634	1	41
Northamptonshire	1,492	34,068	243	7,839	22	822	1	42
Northumberland	489	10,821	214	7,007	5	186	0	0
Nottinghamshire	2,833	63,834	280	8,959	34	1,311	3	159
Oxfordshire	950	23,095	313	10,152	12	440	1	46
Shropshire	1,117	24,715	144	4,677	14	515	1	44
Somerset	772	18,171	345	11,259	29	1,053	0	0
Staffordshire	2,709	61,514	339	10,967	56	2,069	5	255
Suffolk	1,425	32,418	174	5,617	8	294	2	98
Surrey	2,289	53,052	531	17,235	36	1,327	2	83
Warwickshire	1,281	29,064	359	11,781	28	1,030	1	42

	Size of class taught by one teacher
	0–30		31–35		36–40		41 and over
	Classes	Pupils	Classe	Pupils	Classes	Pupils	Classes	Pupils
West Sussex	1,293	30,404	429	13,955	28	1,027	0	0
Wiltshire	1,202	28,562	378	12,155	10	366	0	0
England	114,379	2,606,929	24,525	796,447	2,359	87,368	159	7,747

Secondary Schools
Size of class taught by one teacher	0–30		31–35		36–40		41 and over
	Classes	Pupils	Classes	Pupils	Classes	Pupils	Classes	Pupils
Barking	535	10,538	6	187	0	0	0	0
Barnet	894	15,744	41	1,309	0	0	0	0
Bexley	781	15,856	31	978	0	0	1	57
Brent	770	13,286	16	503	0	0	0	0
Bromley	898	16,903	56	1,805	0	0	0	0
Croydon	986	18,831	67	2,123	2	72	0	0
Ealing	688	12,850	22	691	0	0	0	0
Enfield	871	15,787	85	2,750	5	184	0	0
Haringey	604	11,018	14	443	0	0	0	0
Harrow	497	8,952	23	736	0	0	0	o
Havering	887	16,461	60	1,908	2	78	0	0
Hillingdon	742	14,268	32	1,021	0	0	0	0
Hounslow	682	12,559	28	889	0	0	0	Cl
Kingston upon Thames	367	6,860	40	1,272	0	0	0	0
Merton	543	10,905	77	2,470	0	0	0	0
Newham	747	14,401	13	411	0	0	0	0
Redbridge	677	12,896	40	1,286	2	73	0	0
Richmond upon Thames	298	6,180	17	538	0	0	0	0
Sutton	443	8,317	83	2648	0	0	0	0
Waltham Forest	772	13,703	17	544	0	0	1	49
Inner London	6,280	112,385	193	6,114	8	301	1	41
Birmingham	3,280	65,784	350	11,172	9	330	2	160
Coventry	1,012	20,644	104	3,272	2	73	0	0
Dudley	984	19,109	55	1,750	0	0	0	0
Sandwell	1,171	22,788	64	2,034	0	0	0	0
Solihull	764	15,543	67	2,142	4	147	0	0
Walsall	1,240	22,769	51	1,604	0	0	0	0
Wolverhampton	981	18,847	32	1,017	1	36	0	0
Knowsley	646	12,612	28	905	0	0	2	93
Liverpool	1,674	32,353	161	5,110	2	73	1	44
St Helens	676	12,854	71	2,276	0	0	0	0
Sefton	1,041	20,328	91	2,935	0	0	0	0
Wirral	1,142	22,256	84	2,675	1	36	0	0
Bolton	914	18,197	88	2,820	1	38	0	0
Bury	563	10,782	59	1,875	0	0	0	0
Manchester	1,532	28,915	89	2,835	4	149	1	43
Oldham	706	14,192	70	2,254	5	186	0	0
Rochdale	834	15,604	32	1,025	0	0	0	0
Salford	902	17,649	18	575	0	0	0	0
Stockport	1,020	20,298	64	2,055	1	36	0	0
Tameside	786	14,865	49	1,569	1	38	0	0
Trafford	708	14,302	19	596	0	0	0	0
Wigan	1,325	26,106	61	1,932	1	39	1	42
Barnsley	885	18,070	13	406	1	40	0	0
Doncaster	1,111	22,302	73	2,308	3	110	0	0
Rotherham	968	19,044	80	2,564	4	145	0	0
Sheffield	1,658	33,002	67	2,122	2	76	0	0
Bradford	1,913	38,643	179	5,775	14	510	4	192
Calderdale	675	13,315	66	2,109	3	108	0	0
Kirklees	1,396	27,507	130	4,194	7	263	0	0
Leeds	2,646	50,583	324	10,538	15	556	2	91
Wakefield	1,143	22,756	112	3,598	6	219	0	0
Gateshead	692	13,084	42	1,322	0	0	0	0
Newcastle upon Tyne	1,034	19,195	23	731	0	0	0	0
North Tyneside	888	15,829	29	930	1	37	0	0
South Tyneside	570	10,875	23	719	0	0	1	44
Sunderland	1,069	20,979	80	2,530	0	0	0	0
Isles of Scilly	10	152	0	0	0	0	0	0
Avon	2,739	54,443	222	7,121	9	339	0	0
Bedfordshire	2,045	42,187	135	4,291	1	37	2	100
Berkshire	2,251	42,298	230	7,360	9	332	0	0
Buckinghamshire	1,607	30,715	96	3,036	5	182	1	42
Cambridgeshire	1,760	34,928	145	4,649	4	145	2	141
Cheshire	3,206	62,310	326	10,502	15	549	2	106
Cleveland	2,155	42,743	84	2,662	1	37	1	42
Cornwall	1,346	26,778	130	4,169	4	147	1	59

	Secondary Schools
Size of class taught by one teacher	0–30		31–35		36–40		41 and over
	Classes	Pupils	Classes	Pupils	Classes	Pupils	Classes	Pupils
Cumbria	1,799	34,213	75	2,373	2	72	0	0
Derbyshire	2,967	58,980	285	9,149	7	257	0	0
Devon	2,598	52,601	287	9,204	5	181	0	0
Dorset	1,735	34,417	188	6,036	6	220	3	139
Durham	1,906	37,894	206	6,600	5	182	2	183
East Sussex	1,548	30,926	152	4,834	4	146	1	44
Essex	4,906	99,027	378	12,014	11	403	1	43
Gloucestershire	1,569	30,692	183	5,859	7	259	0	0
Hampshire	4,304	87,554	345	11,050	9	328	4	180
Hereford and Worcester	2,187	42,855	300	9,658	10	367	0	0
Hertfordsire	3,518	65,416	220	7,006	1	36	1	46
Humberside	3,588	68,799	236	7,592	12	451	1	42
Isle of Wight	458	9,093	47	1,525	1	36	0	0
Kent	5,154	103,852	320	10,123	4	153	2	211
Lancashire	4,368	85,959	391	12,528	18	658	2	93
Leicestershire	3,010	60,274	128	4,074	2	76	3	152
Lincolnshire	1,775	34,826	107	3,437	6	228	1	41
Norfolk	2,047	40,929	102	3,255	4	154	1	64
North Yorkshire	2,210	42,188	216	6,934	7	256	2	126
Northamptonshire	2,154	42,061	137	4,393	3	112	0	0
Northumberland	1,199	23,585	137	4,433	15	548	1	41
Nottinghamshire	3,685	71,591	156	4,961	3	109	3	133
Oxfordshire	1,654	33,254	108	3,455	2	74	1	57
Shropshire	1,383	26,389	96	3,070	4	149	0	0
Somerset	1,226	25,310	154	4,960	5	190	0	0
Staffordshire	3,783	73,676	354	11,414	6	221	1	45
Suffolk	2,214	44,341	145	4,607	8	291	2	98
Surrey	2,355	44,335	167	5,340	6	219	1	45
Warwickshire	1,379	27,512	108	3,435	2	74	0	0
West Sussex	1,874	36,031	239	7,667	14	516	2	87
Wiltshire	1,701	33,988	126	4,028	3	108	0	0
ENGLAND	153,884	2,999,803	11,370	363,704	347	12,795	61	3,216

Volume 79: debated on Thursday 23 May 1985