Commenting on the passing of motion 9 at Annual Conference in Harrogate, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“For many schools, a chronic lack of funding has led to a reduction in teaching staff and increased class sizes. For teachers and support staff to ensure every pupil gets the attention they need it is quite clear that our class sizes need to be reduced across every subject.
“This issue becomes even more pertinent for technical subjects with students often competing for space and equipment. There is also a clear health and safety issue here. Oversized classrooms can pose physical risks in practical subjects where pupils must share equipment and space, and teacher supervision is limited. Scotland is one step ahead with a limit of 20 pupils per technical class.
“Yet again England lags behind not only other countries but within the UK as well.
“Class size is important for ensuring students get enough individual attention and that children with additional needs can access what is happening in class. If we want teachers to successfully support positive behaviour for learning, keeping class size manageable really matters.
“It’s well known that giving students enough practical opportunities to apply their learning is one of the best ways to engage students and give them confidence and interest in a subject.”