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Class sizes 'need cutting'

09/09/2008

Steps should be taken to cut primary school class sizes in Britain, a thinktank says, as a major report is published comparing Britain's standards with those of the rest of the developed world.

Its average of 24.5 is "very large", the OECD say in its annual Education at a Glance report, before noting that the difference between public and private schools – an average of 13 pupils per classroom – is the largest of all among OECD countries.

The report says evidence about the impact of class size on student performance is "mixed", adding it is a "hot topic" when compared with the equally important teachers' salaries.

But thinktank Civitas insists it makes a major difference. It is concerned by government figures showing the number of pupils in class sizes of over 31 rose from 21,060 in 2006/07 to 810 in 2007/08.

The government set a legal limit of 30 pupils per class as being above 'small' in 1997, but Civitas' head of family and education Anastasia de Waal argues the definition of 'small' should be revised downwards to a maximum of 20.

"The government must finally commit to a proper class size reduction programme for infant classes if it wants to see real results," she said.

"When the first years of primary school lay the foundations for pupils' future achievement, cutting corners rather than class size is a huge mistake."

Government research shows small class sizes mean there is more individual interaction between teachers and pupils, more teacher support for learning per pupil and a greater likelihood teachers can identify the problems and specific needs of their pupils.

Cutting class sizes down to 20 is possible, Civitas argues. It says diverting teaching assistant expenditure towards funding more teachers would go a long way towards solving the problem.

According to today's report 14 OECD countries have 20 or fewer students per primary school class.