Pre-schools, Pupils and Teachers
Table 1.1 shows number of school, pupils, teachers and pupil teacher ratios across years. There were 92,030 children in 2,586 pre-schools, 365,326 pupils in 2,099 primary schools, 301,014 pupils in 372 secondary schools and 6,800 pupils in 163 special schools. The proportion of pupils in special schools continues to be about one per cent, with approximately 1.2 per cent of pupils spending all or most of their time in special schools or classes. There is a decreasing trend in the number of schools and pupils since the period shown (2003), with pupil numbers having fallen by a further 0.5 per cent since 2009.
The total number of teachers in all sectors or visiting specialists was 52,188, which is 796 fewer than the 2009 figure of 52,984. The pupil teacher ratio in schools increased from 13.2 in 2009 to 13.3 in 2010.
Statistics for Independent Schools are no longer being published and have not been included in this publication.
Table 1.1: Schools, pupils, teachers and pupil teacher ratios ( PTR) by school sector, 2003-2010
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|
Schools |
|---|
Pre-schools (4) | 2,836 | 2,836 | 2,761 | 2,750 | 2.702 | 2.645 | 2,615 | 2,586 |
|---|
Primary | 2,248 | 2,217 | 2,194 | 2,184 | 2,168 | 2,153 | 2,128 | 2,099 |
|---|
Secondary | 386 | 386 | 385 | 381 | 378 | 376 | 374 | 372 |
|---|
Special | 194 | 192 | 190 | 190 | 183 | 193 | 190 | 163 |
|---|
Pupils |
|---|
Pre-schools (4) | 103,140 | 96,460 | 105,810 | 111,720 | 106,060 | 105,420 | 107,420 | 92,030 |
|---|
Primary (5) | 406,015 | 398,100 | 390,260 | 382,783 | 375,946 | 370,839 | 367,146 | 365,326 |
|---|
Secondary (5) | 318,427 | 317,900 | 315,840 | 312,979 | 309,560 | 303,978 | 302,921 | 301,014 |
|---|
Special | 7,680 | 7,389 | 7,140 | 6,975 | 6,709 | 6,756 | 6,673 | 6,800 |
|---|
Teachers (1) |
|---|
Pre-schools (4) | .. | .. | 1,648 | 1,686 | 1,672 | 1,638 | 1,613 | 1,543 |
|---|
Publicly funded schools | 50,877 | 51,442 | 52,207 | 53,043 | 53,411 | 52,697 | 51,371 | 50,645 |
|---|
Total based in schools | 49,272 | 49,739 | 50,757 | 51,886 | 52,446 | 51,765 | 50,599 | 49,923 |
|---|
Primary | 22,363 | 22,675 | 22,991 | 23,625 | 23,829 | 23,615 | 23,243 | 23,160 |
|---|
Secondary | 24,881 | 25,071 | 25,735 | 26,186 | 26,573 | 26,067 | 25,371 | 24,849 |
|---|
Special | 2,028 | 1,993 | 2,031 | 2,075 | 2,044 | 2,083 | 1,985 | 1,913 |
|---|
Centrally employed | 1,605 | 1,703 | 1,450 | 1,157 | 964 | 933 | 772 | 722 |
|---|
Total | .. | .. | 53,855 | 54,729 | 55,083 | 54,335 | 52,984 | 52,188 |
|---|
PTRs |
|---|
Publicly funded schools (2) | 14.4 | 14.1 | 13.7 | 13.2 | 13.0 | 12.9 | 13.2 | 13.3 |
|---|
Total based in schools (3) | 14.9 | 14.5 | 14.1 | 13.5 | 13.2 | 13.2 | 13.4 | 13.5 |
|---|
Primary | 18.2 | 17.6 | 17.0 | 16.2 | 15.8 | 15.7 | 15.8 | 15.8 |
|---|
Secondary | 12.8 | 12.7 | 12.3 | 12.0 | 11.6 | 11.7 | 11.9 | 12.1 |
|---|
Special | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
|---|
(1) See background note 3.1 and 3.2.
(2) All school based and centrally employed teachers contribute to this ratio.
(3) All school based teachers contribute to this ratio.
(4) 2010 (September) pre-school figures are not directly comparable with previous years. See background note 3.14
(5) Figures for Primary and Secondary total pupils were corrected on 13th June 2011 to amend incorrect figures initially submitted in the grant maintained sector.