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Primary Education: Class Sizes

Volume 503: debated on Wednesday 6 January 2010

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the revised School Admissions Code on infant class sizes; and if he will make a statement. (308179)

This revision to the School Admissions Code does not alter the duty on admission authorities to comply with the statutory limit on infant class sizes. In addition, the revision in itself will not create additional pressure on reception class places. Most local authorities admit children to reception classes in two phases in the September or January following their 4th birthday. Around 20 per cent. of local authorities also have a third ‘summer’ entry, where they admit pupils in April. Requiring admission authorities to provide for places for all children from the September following their 4th birthday will have the effect of bringing forward the start date of some entries to September but not increasing the size of the cohort overall in the year. Admission authorities will already be under a duty to comply with infant class size to accommodate those existing entries at later stages in the school year.