The first cash released by the abolition of assisted places should mean smaller classes for 125,000 infant pupils from September, the Government says. Some 65 English local authorities will share Pounds 21.3 million from the standards fund, the first slice of the Pounds 100 million ministers expect to save from phasing out the private schools’ subsidy. Another Pounds 700, 000 will go to grant-maintained schools.
That should take the Government a quarter of the way towards its pledge that children aged five, six or seven will be taught in a class of no more than 30 pupils by September 2001.
