By Professor John Robertson OBA
In the Guardian today:
UK [sic] primary class sizes are among the biggest in the industrialised world, larger than Mexico, Turkey and Colombia, according to an international report.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) study, which compares the state of education in about 50 countries, found primary school teachers in the UK face bumper classes of 27 children.
Only classes in Chile are bigger with 28 pupils, while in Japan classes at primary level are also 27-strong. Luxembourg and Croatia by comparison have just 15 children a class, while the OECD average is 21. https://www.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/sep/10/uk-primary-class-sizes-among-biggest-in-industrialised-world-report-finds
Typically blinkered, the Guardian did not look north where the ratio is 15.3 to 1: https://www.statista.com/statistics/716480/pupil-teacher-ratio-scotland/
The OBA – https://scotsindependent.scot/?page_id=116
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Ah but …. every time a spokeswumman frae the EIS is oan speakin aboot class sizes we ur aye tellt that class sizes in primary schools is 33 weans an thur aw illiterate and pure badly behavit.
So, that must right cos thay teachers disnae tell lies, dae they???????????
Alasdair Macdonald.
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I wonder if you’re comparing apples to oranges?
As far as I can make out, the Guardian article is talking about actual class sizes in England, whereas you have referenced the pupil-teacher ratio in Scotland.
Aren’t they two different things?
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Jimmock says. The pupil/ teacher ratio in England is 21 to 1. This is the figure used in the graph as the UK number. Scotland’s ratio is 15 to 1. Class size in England is 27 to 1 and in Scotland 23 to 1. Whether the numbers given for other countries refer to ratios or class sizes is therefore unclear.
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The 23 you mention isn’t set in stone – it’s the average class size, which appears to me to be a pretty meaningless stat. Class sizes in Scotland, and in any country, vary, but they do have upper limits –
P1 – up to 25 pupils
P2 to P3 – up to 30 pupils
P4 to P7 – up to 33 pupils
Composite classes – up to 25 pupils.
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The ConDems cut Education funding £6Billion a year. Put up student fees. Student loan book now £87Billion. Half will never be paid back. Cutting education funding £6Billion every year. £60Billion+. UK Gov spends £106Billion on education.
Scotland has to mitigate all the cuts. Lifelong education based on the ability to learn not the ability to pay. Block Grant £41Billion has to cover the cost. Scotland raises £88 Billion. Gets all Westminster debt of poor, bad decisions. Like Brexit restricting reciprocal student studies. Travel broadens the mind.
Average primary class size in Scotland 23. Smaller class sizes in secondary 5/6 years. 30% got to uni from school. 25% mature students. 7% EU students ( half since Brexit). Foreign students paying the full cost. The highest number of unis (pro rata) in the world. 15 + colleges and apprenticeships. Apprenticeships getting young people into work. Getting neurodiverse students into work. Even undiagnosed with no support. Still opening opportunities. One of the best education system in the world.
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