Huge rise in size of primary classes

More infants are being herded into super-size classes at primary school, despite Labour's 1997 election pledge to limit class sizes to 30.

Official figures reveal today that the number of illegally large classes in primary schools has soared.

Labour tried to put a brave face on the embarrassing statistics, which were published just a day after Education Secretary Ruth Kelly pledged more money for schools.

A spokesman for Ms Kelly stressed that the proportion of five to seven-year-olds in classes with more than 30 pupils has dropped from more than a fifth to around one in 100 in the past eight years.

But data from the Department-for Education and Skills showed that primary schools lost 200 teachers in the past year, and although primary schools are forbidden by law to run classes of more than 30 for infants other than in exceptional circumstances, the number breaching the limit without permission jumped from 38 to 530 between 2004 and 2005.

For the first time in years, some five- to seven-year-olds are being taught in groups of 36 or more.

Labour made its class size pledge because children get more attention from their teachers in smaller groups and should make faster progress as a result. Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said the method Labour used to fund primary schools was to blame.

He said primary-age pupil numbers are actually falling in England and that this should be the ideal time to improve staffing in schools. Not only would it give teachers the chance to give more one-on-one attention to pupils, it would also enable schools to cut the hours of their staff in accordance with the national workload agreement.

But Professor Smithers said that the inflexible funding mechanism operated by Whitehall means that primary headteachers are now threatening to close schools early on Fridays because they cannot afford to pay for the workload agreement.

Professor Smithers said: "The government really didn't back up its recognition of the excessive workload in primary schools with a funding mechanism that really enables schools to tackle it."

The latest DfES data also showed that average class sizes decreased slightly in secondary schools in the 12 months to this January, from

21.8 pupils per class to 21.7. But average class sizes in primary schools stayed static at

26.2, thanks to the growing problem with infant groups.

Ms Kelly's spokesman said: "The figures published today show the difference Labour is making to our schools."