Every school brochure says 1:20. The class 1 room we saw had 38 desks

willow_fern_28220 Aug 2026

Looking at schools for my younger one for next year, class 2. Every brochure this month says '1:20 teacher-student ratio'. At one school the class 1 room had 38 desks. When I asked, the counsellor said the ratio counts all teaching staff, including the dance, art and sports teachers. Which, fine, but that's not what anyone reads it as. So what number should I be asking for? Kids per section? Adults in the room? Something else I haven't thought of?

5 comments

violet_violin_513220 Aug 2026
kids per section and whether there's an assistant in the room. for small ones that's the only number that matters
linen_pebble_431121 Aug 2026
Ask to watch a class during a normal period, not during the tour slot. When we were choosing for our elder son, the one school that let us sit through ten minutes of an ordinary lesson told us more than all the brochures put together.
umber_balcony_70021 Aug 2026
The staff ratio isn't a lie, it answers a different question. What you want is section strength, and how many adults are around for the routine parts of the day: lunch, toilet breaks, dispersal. Those are the moments where 38 with one teacher shows.
- willow_fern_28221 Aug 2026
  Dispersal, good point. To be fair to that school, it wasn't one adult all day, there was an aaya in the corridor. But we did reach at closing time once and it was chaos. I put it down to the rain. Will ask properly this time.
orchid_piano_517421 Aug 2026
Something I would ask alongside the numbers: how long have the primary class teachers stayed? A large class with a teacher who has been there for years can work better than a small one with a new teacher every term. They may not answer directly, but how they answer tells you something too.
breezy_spoon_496721 Aug 2026
My daughter had 52 in her class and she turned out fine. Still, 38 at age six is a lot for one teacher.