Primary and Secondary Schools
4.10 Just over 769,000 pupils were attending primary and secondary schools in the South West in January 2007. This includes special schools (7,240 pupils), Pupil Referral Units (1,340 pupils), independent schools (59,700 pupils), City Technology Colleges (1,020 pupils) and Academies (1,240 pupils).
4.11 The number of pupils attending these schools has changed over time as a result of demographic trends with numbers in nursery, primary and special schools declining, and numbers in secondary schools, pupil referral units and independent schools increasing. These trends are not exclusive to the South West and are clearly seen nationally. The rate of change in the region reflects the national picture although there has been a larger decrease in special schools. Larger than average increases have been seen in secondary schools and most notably in pupil referral units.
|
South West (%) |
England (%) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Nursery |
-12.6% |
-16.4% |
| Primary |
-6.6% |
-6.8% |
| Secondary |
2.9% |
1.1% |
| Special |
-8.0% |
-6.5% |
| Pupil Referral Units |
116.1% |
63.2% |
| Independent |
-2.9% |
1.5% |
| All schools |
-2.3% |
-2.7% |
| Note: Special schools include the maintained and non-maintained sector | ||
| Source DfES, 2001 and SFR 30_2007 | ||
4.12 The number of primary school pupils has fallen across all LEA areas in the South West except the Isles of Scilly between 2001 and 2007. The decline was greater than the national average in Bath and North East Somerset, Bournemouth, Bristol, Devon, Gloucestershire, Plymouth and Poole, Somerset and South Gloucestershire. In contrast there has been a growth across most LEA areas in the number of secondary school pupils. The exceptions are Bristol, showing a 15% decline in pupil numbers from 2001 to 2007, with much smaller declines in Bournemouth, Plymouth and Swindon.