THE average primary school class size in Bucks has fallen below that of all primaries in England for the first time since 1994.

Buckinghamshire County Council figures show that Bucks had an average of 26.8 pupils per infant and junior school classes (primary school sector) compared to 27.3 for all primary schools in England.

The council's joint advisory and consultative (schools) group heard earlier this month that the figure was even lower than the one recorded in 1992 which shows the average primary school class size in Bucks was 27. The figure for all primaries in England then was 26.8.

A county council spokesman said: "Variations in class size can arise for a number of reasons including budget pressure, demographic factors, class grouping policies and local staffing circumstances."

Statistics from a September 2000 class size count for Key Stage 1 (infant school children aged between five and seven) and Key Stage 2 (junior school children aged eight to 11) classes were compared with class sizes recorded in the January 1999 and 2000 annual schools' census to show the class size decline in Bucks.

The average class size for Key Stage 1 fell from 26.6 in January 1999 to 23.4 in September this year.

The total number of infant classes with more than 30 pupils was 151 (25.8 per cent) compared to 26 (4.2 per cent) for the same period.

The average Key Stage 2 class sizes also fell but to a lesser extent from 29.3 in January 1999 to 28.3 in September 2000.

The total number of junior classes with more than 30 pupils was 301 (42.3 per cent) compared to 272 (33.7 percent) during this period.

The county council say the decreases in September 2000 are likely to be due to the additional resources it has benefited from as a result of the reduction in infant class size initiative.