Class sizes rise due to loophole

The government set a target of reducing class sizes to 18 in P1 to P3

Class sizes in early primary in one part of Scotland are to jump to 30 pupils in August - in conflict with the Scottish Government's flagship policy.

The SNP government has set a target of reducing class sizes in the first three years of primary to a maximum of 18.

But East Renfrewshire Council said it could not keep sizes down as parents can appeal if refused a place.

The Scottish Government said councils were getting record funds to help progress towards smaller class sizes.

But East Renfrewshire said there was no legal backing for enforcing the smaller class sizes.

Parents who apply for a place at a primary outside their catchment area are commonly told the class is full at 25 pupils, or 18 for early years.

East Renfrewshire said there was a legal loophole which meant it would lose if parents were to appeal against its decision to say a class was full.

Director of education John Wilson said it was bowing to the inevitable in raising all its class sizes to 30 from August.

Lawyers expect appeals to multiply right across Scotland once more parents realise the high chances of success following a test case last year.

It is thought this could mean more councils expand rather than contract classes.

'Challenging target'

Iain Nisbet, of the Govan Law Centre in Glasgow, told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "I suppose the simple message is that if your child's been denied a place because of a smaller class size limit and they're being told that the primary one class is full at 25 or at 18, then it's worth your while appealing.

"The regulations and the guidance have a loophole - it allows appeal committees and sheriff courts to place children in classes outside the ordinary placing round and those children wouldn't be counted towards the overall class size."

Progress towards P1 to P3 down to 18 was disappointing for us in the first year, but across Scotland we're seeing record low class sizes Keith Brown Minister for Schools

Ministers said they had given councils record levels of funding and asked them to make progress in cutting pupil numbers and that in the past year the number of small classes had risen by 1% to 13%.

Minister for Schools Keith Brown said: "It was always a challenging target, if you want to reduce class sizes there's no point having targets which can be easily met, which are inevitable.

"We've set ourselves, along with local government, a very challenging target and we recognise that - we're putting the resources in behind that to ensure that that can happen.

"There is progress, obviously progress towards P1 to P3 down to 18 was disappointing for us in the first year, but across Scotland we're seeing record low class sizes."

Council leaders said no money was ring-fenced for cutting class sizes and the task was daunting given rising costs and competing priorities.

Next week the Educational Institute of Scotland union will debate taking industrial action over class sizes.

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