181 PUPILS IN A CLASS

Heads blame £2.8bn Tory education cuts

A SCHOOL in England has a class with more than 180 pupils in it – as Tory cuts hammer the education system.

Children across the UK are often taught in classes of 100 or more students, a Freedom of Information request revealed.

The class of 181 was in a school in Sutton, South West London. It was unclear which subject was being taught, but it was possible it was PE or music.

Shadow Education Secretary, Angela Rayner, said she was appalled by the figures.

She said: “Everyone from the public accounts committee to the teaching unions has warned Tory cuts will lead to large class sizes...”

A class in Sefton, Merseyside, had 141 pupils and one in Suffolk had 135. The figures were collected APPALLED Angela Rayner on one specific day in January this year. They also showed 10 classes of 70 or more pupils and 52 classes with 50-plus students. At primary school level, there were 14 schools with more than 40 pupils to a class. Head teachers are calling for more than £1billion extra for education and have linked rising class sizes to the £2.8billion realterms cut since 2015. Head of Harrop Fold School, in Salford, Greater Manchester, Drew Povey, said: “I honestly think we are going to see class sizes balloon over the next few years because of the funding cuts.” The Department for Education said: “We have invested £5.8billion in the school estate, creating 735,000 places since 2010... the average class size has not changed.”