Concerns From Specialist Education Lawyers That The Situation ‘Won’t Get Any Better’

Specialist education lawyers at national law firm Irwin Mitchell share their concerns over the growing size of children’s classes – and say that it doesn’t look to get any better.

The number of secondary school children on classes with 36 students or more has trebled in the last five years. 

An analysis by BBC News has found evidence of a class in West Yorkshire with 46 pupils, and cuts in school spending across regions. 

The latest school census shows that there were 17,780 state secondary school children being taught in classes with 36 or more pupils, in comparison to 2011’s census of 6,017 pupils. 

The BBC Yorkshire investigation found that Brighouse Academy School in West Yorkshire has a year 9 maths class where one teacher has 46 pupils. 

Approximately 90 per cent of children who attend state schools in England are taught in classes with 30 pupils or lower, according to the latest government figures.

When looking at school budgets to see if there was a correlation, BBC news analysed the latest government data on school spending and found that it has fallen from £4,408 in 2015-16 per student to £4,371 in 2016-2017. 

Sarah Woosey, expert public law solicitor at Irwin Mitchell who has worked with families to secure their children equal opportunities at school, said:

A spokesperson from the Department for Education said that despite population increase, class sizes in England have remained stable since 2006.