Primary classes of 70: Labour reveals crisis in schools… caused by its own immigration policy

Shadow education secretary has 'real concerns' with 'crammed' classes

Those in classes of more than 30 pupils has risen by 200% since 2010



Nearly 450 pupils are in classes of more than 70 people, figures show



But critics say Labour's 'out of control' migration policy caused pressure

Shadow education secretary, Labour's Tristram Hunt, said he had 'real concerns' with pupils being 'crammed' into classrooms

Thousands of primary school children are being taught in giant classes of 50, 60 or even 70 pupils, figures reveal today.

Labour said there are nearly 15,000 in classes of 40 or more – but faced an immediate backlash from critics who said the problem was created by the party’s previous policies.

Shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt said he had ‘real concerns’ about children being ‘crammed’ into large classes.

However, critics point out that Labour’s ‘out of control’ immigration policy caused much of the pressure on places.

As well as direct immigration resulting in growing numbers of children at schools, pressure has also resulted from the so-called ‘migrant baby boom’ as more children are born to mothers arriving in Britain from overseas.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said: ‘Tristram Hunt seems to have forgotten it was Labour who cut 200,000 primary school places in the middle of a baby boom – at the same time as letting immigration get out of control.’

Labour published figures showing the number of primary pupils in classes of more than 30 has spiralled in the last four years.

In 2010 there were 31,000 such pupils, compared to the current total of 93,665 – a rise of 200 per cent. Of those, nearly 40,000 are in classes of more than 36 pupils.

Another 5,817 are in classes of 50 or more, 2,556 are in classes of 60 or more and 446 are in classes of 70 or more.

On current trends, Mr Hunt said, by 2020 the number of children in large classes of more than 30 pupils will top 450,000. That would account for around one in four of all primary pupils.

Mr Hunt said: ‘In 2008 David Cameron said; “the more we can get class sizes down the better”, but as parents and pupils prepare to begin the new school year, there are real concerns about the number of children in classes of more than 30 infants under the Tories.

‘By diverting resources away from areas in desperate need of more primary school places in favour of pursuing his pet project of expensive free schools in areas where there is no shortage of places, David Cameron has created classes of more than 40, 50, 60 and even 70 pupils.

The number of pupils in classes of more than 30 has risen by 200 per cent since 2010 - but critics say it is due to Labour's 'out of control' immigration policy (stock image)

‘Labour will end the Free Schools programme and instead focus spending on areas in need of extra school places.

‘The choice on education is clear: the threat of ever more children crammed into large class sizes under the Tories or a Labour future where we transform standards with a qualified teacher in every classroom and action on class sizes.’

But Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the MigrationWatch think-tank, said: ‘It’s a bit rich for Labour to complain about pressure on primary schools when the major factor in the increase is the result of the mass immigration which Labour promoted and even encouraged.’

And Mrs Morgan added: ‘As part of our long-term economic plan, the difficult decisions we’ve taken have meant we’ve been able to double the funding to local authorities for school places to £5billion, creating 260,000 new places.

‘But Labour haven’t learnt their lesson. Their policy of not trusting headteachers would create more bureaucrats, meaning more resources are spent on paperwork – not places. Children would have a worse future under Labour.’

The British population has risen by five million over the past 12 years, growing faster than anywhere else in Europe.

In mid-2013, there were 400,600 more residents than a year earlier, equivalent to a city the size of Bristol. Immigration was directly responsible for 46 per cent of that rise.