Industry News
UK primary class sizes 'one of the largest'
Posted on 19th September 2007
A newly published report on schools by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has found that British primary school classes are among the largest in 30 developed nations.
It found the UK's average class size in a state primary was 25.8 pupils, meaning only Israel, Chile, Brazil, Turkey, Korea and Japan have greater class sizes at primary level.
Professor David Reynolds of Exeter University told the Western Mail a class with more than thirty pupils was a "serious negative".
He said: "Evidence shows that classes in the low 20s are better than classes in the high 20s, but the really big effect is when you get below 20 pupils."
The report found a comparatively large proportion of people failed to complete upper secondary education and face "considerable and increasing penalties" when seeking work.
It discovered the percentage of 15-year-olds who anticipate continuing their education to university was 32 per cent, one of the lowest of the surveyed countries.