Parents, teachers, headteachers and governors agree that excessive class size is detrimental to the education of children, although there is, in England and Wales, no statutory limit on the size of any class above Key Stage (KS) 1.

There is a statutory duty upon both LAs and governing bodies to limit the size of infant classes for KS1 children taught by a single qualified teacher to 30 or below.

As a trade union, the NASUWT is most concerned that increasing class sizes impose greater workload on teachers, which is unreasonable and unacceptable and must be resisted.

The solution to excessive class size will be unique to each individual school. In the short term there may be a need for a reduction in other areas of teachers’ work in order to enable them to cope with the work generated by larger classes.

The optimum class size depends on the nature of the pupils and the activity concerned. Custom, practice and best advice is that practical classes should contain no more than 20 pupils.

Health and Safety Issues

The problem of excessive class size may be approached as a health and safety issue under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which requires employers to provide a safe and healthy working environment.

If you have any concerns about class sizes in your school, please seek out your NASUWT Workplace Representative.