Classes in British primary schools 'among biggest in the world'

Only Japan, Korea, Turkey, Brazil, Chile and Israel have more pupils per class in state primaries than the UK's average of 25.8.

This is despite the fact that Government spending per student in the UK at primary, secondary and higher education level is above average compared with 29 other developed nations.

Britain actually spends the most at pre-school level, investing £4,903 per child in the early years.

The report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said UK primary class sizes had remained "very large".

"The UK has one of the largest average class sizes at the primary level of education," an OECD spokesman said. "Only six countries have larger state primary class sizes.

"Where private institutions are taken into account, the UK has 24.2 students per class, only surpassed by Japan, Korea and Turkey, with all but eight countries having between 16 and 21 students per class."

However, the figures for 2005 show that at secondary school level, Britain has smaller average class sizes than other nations.

The OECD study also found that the proportion of pupils achieving a good secondary education in the UK had gone up slightly over 30 years.

Some 60 per cent of 55 to 64-year-olds, who left school in the UK in the fifties and sixties, boast the equivalent of five GCSEs at grade A to C.

That figure rises to 67 per cent among 25 to 34-year-olds, who left in the eighties and nineties.

However, this apparent achievement is undermined by the fact that other developed countries have improved more dramatically over that period.

In Korea, for example, 97 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds have the equivalent qualifications.

The report also showed Britain had been overtaken in the proportion of young people getting university degrees.

In just five years, the UK has fallen from third to tenth in the international league.

It was previously beaten only by New Zealand and Finland, but has now been leapfrogged by Australia, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland.

Low aspirations among young British students may be behind the figures.

A spokesman for the OECD said: "Indicators show that, overall, educational performance in the UK remains strong, with significant progress in early childhood participation as well as an above-average output in higher education, particularly in science.

"The UK has also increased its investment in education consistently and strategically, with more money directed to attracting better-qualified teachers rather than solely into lowering class sizes."