Where the UK stands · OECD · each country's latest reported year

How large are primary school classes in the UK, compared with other countries?

United Kingdom: 26.9 pupils per class, public primary schools, 3rd of 39 (2024).

Average primary school class size: every country in the OECD's table with a figure within three years of the newest year published; each country's newest year is used and named on the row, highest first. 39 rows. Equal figures share a rank and are printed as ties; the order within a tie is alphabetical and means nothing. The highlighted row is United Kingdom, 3rd of 39.

#Namepupils per class, public primary schoolsPeriod
1Israel27.52024
2Chile26.92024
3United Kingdom26.92024
4Japan26.42024
5Colombia24.32024
6Türkiye23.42024
7Mexico23.22024
8Australia22.92024
9Hungary22.82024
10Netherlands22.52024
11Ireland22.52024
12Germany21.22024
13France21.12023
14Brazil20.92024
15Korea20.92024
16United States20.72024
17Sweden20.72024
18Bulgaria20.52024
19Portugal20.42024
20Spain20.02024
21Czechia20.02024
22Denmark19.72024
23Romania19.62024
24Switzerland19.22024
25Lithuania19.02024
26Finland18.72024
27Estonia18.72024
28Iceland18.72024
29Slovak Republic18.72024
30Poland18.62024
31Austria18.52024
32Slovenia18.22024
33Italy17.92024
34Latvia17.82024
35Greece16.52024
36Croatia15.52024
37Luxembourg15.22024
38Costa Rica14.52024
39Peru12.52024

What this table establishes

The table establishes the average class size in public primary schools for the year shown.

It does not establish why countries differ, what any country should spend or provide, or that a rank is a judgement on a health or economic system.

How it is made

Each row is the figure the publisher printed, in pupils per class, public primary schools. Rows are ordered highest first; nothing is estimated, weighted or adjusted by Civometry.

Public institutions, primary level. Class size is not the pupil–teacher ratio, which also counts staff outside the classroom.

Source: OECD, Education at a Glance · OECD terms and conditions (free reuse with attribution). Period: each country's latest reported year. The rank is Civometry’s ordering of published figures, not a judgement on anyone in the table.

United Kingdom: 26.9 pupils per class, public primary schools, 3rd of 39 (2024).
Civometry, from OECD · Education at a Glance

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