English and maths class size fall

Brian Taylor's blog

The average size of English and maths classes in the first two years of secondary school fell over the term of the last Scottish administration.

A total of 318 schools now have average sizes of 20 or less, compared with 35 in 2003, according to the Scottish Government-published figures.

Previous Labour/Lib Dem ministers allowed class sizes of up to 29, if the overall average could be kept to 20.

The SNP government said it would continue to deliver lower sizes.

The average class size in S1 maths is now 18.5, compared with 25.6 in 2003, while in S2 maths the figure stands at 18.7, compared with 25.3 four years previously.

'Lifelong prospects'

S1 English class sizes decreased to 18.4 from 26.2 over the same period and the figure for S2 English stood at 18.6, down from 25.7.

Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop said the SNP administration would continue to achieve lower class sizes by delivering more than 20,000 new teachers in training and £115m of extra capital funding in 2008-09 to invest in schools.

"Early intervention - such as cutting class sizes - will be the hallmark of this government's education policies," she said.

"We believe that providing help and support at this vital early stage can make a real difference to a child's lifelong prospects."

The previous Labour/Lib Dem executive had originally vowed to cut S1 and S2 maths and English class sizes to a maximum of 20, as part of its coalition agreement.

That target was later dropped for the revised one, three months before the last election, which ministers at the time said would give teachers more flexibility.