A level class sizes.

[Properhoolietoday]

Is there a maximum permitted class size for an A level class?

Not AFAIK - many schools have a point at which they will run two classes eg for maths. Dd was in classes of 15, 18 and 2 (!) and ds similar but not the 2. There were two classes for Eng lit and maths which they separately took, otherwise it would have been a class of 30+.

Thanks. It's a class of 39, DS isn't coping at all.

Omg 39!! That’s ridiculous. What subject? Is it due to shortage of teachers (eg CS)? Can you speak to school or even move schools? And I don’t often say that!

No.

In general because fewer students do A level they tend to be smaller however teacher shortage etc etc....

39!
j think you need a tutor.

Funnily enough (or not!) it was looking at tutors that prompted me to write this post.
I have complained, other parents too. It is down to teacher shortage (illness) and was supposed to be temporary, but it's been a few weeks now. It's not just the size, the teachers, who I sympathise with hugely, can't even get through the marking. The teacher seems to think it will be for the rest of the year now.
Moving isn't option for various reasons, don't want to name the subject, I hadn't realised this might be outing as I thought there would be other schools in the same boat.
Very envious of the school upthread that would run an A level class for 2 students.

What subject is this?

If it is due to teacher illness presumably they have put together two classes as one.

If the teacher is sufficiently ill that they are not coming back or at least not coming back for some time then the school will usually try to recruit a temporary cover but depending on the subject this can be anywhere from difficult to impossible.

It might be worth posting separately asking for ideas for additional study and giving the subject.

Very envious of the school upthread that would run an A level class for 2 students.

@Properhoolietoday this was DD – actually she initially took music, which was a class of two (inc her) and then decided it wasn’t for her and she would switch to French – which was one student! So they ran one subject for two students and one for one! The other student doing French was a good friend which really helped – she also says that while the focus with just two of them was tough (nowhere to hide) it was also excellent esp for her speaking.

I also thought it was great that they ran these classes; not many schools round my way offer music A level and the girl who did it had moved from another school to take it so I guess they wanted to keep her. French was the ONLY MFL they ended up running at all :(

School I used to work in would often run MFL A level for 2-3 students.

Agree, is it two classes temporarily put together? WHat plan does the school have?

I teach 2 subjects at A level/Level 3. In one subject I have 1 student in y13 and 5 in y12. In the other I have 23 in y13 and 30 in y12. I share the 1st subject and my HoD teaches them more lessons than me. The marking at the end for the 2nd one is VERY full-on.

It's difficult if they've got someone off and genuinely can't find anyone suitable. Have they checked to see if they can find someone who would do just the A-level and not the rest of the teacher's timetable? There are lots of ex-teachers out there who might be more willing to do just A-level.
(If you're speaking to any local tutors, you could try telling them about the situation and asking whether they might be interested in the work if approached. There's no harm in suggesting someone to the school - although obviously they might decide they're not suitable or too expensive.)

The teacher who is covering this massive class should really be given some extra time off timetable to allow for the marking. They might also look at what else they can put in place to mitigate the problem - they might be able to add some lessons either. in the timetable or after hours to provide some smaller group sessions. Again, that might mean taking more lower school work off the teacher, and some jiggling of the timetable

Our local big sixth form caps classes at 24, I think. DD is in a small sixth form, in classes of 4, 4 and 1!

This is the reality of many schools. I now have half the number of A level classes I did have, with twice the students in it. My subject has not grown less popular (History) but I used to have two Y13 classes with roughly 12 or 14 students in each. Now I'm timetabled one class that has 29 students in it.

By combining my classes this frees me up to teach another two Y11 classes of 30 students each on top of what I was doing. This is the reality of workload issues that teachers are complaining of.

I can't do the marking and feedback that students need when they pile this amount on me.

Problem is, you can't get supply to teach a level. They might work it out so that another member of the department takes the 2nd class and lose some KS3 to a non subject specialist. Now there have been complaints this is probably most likely.

I have 19 in one of my sets and 15 in the other. I probably would not want more than 20 in an A-level class.

Our A level classes are capped at 20. 39 is ridiculous, but there is a teacher shortage.
Could the class be split in 2 again with the specialist teacher teaching both? Might be easier to replace a teacher at KS3 and 4.
Or suggest a sort of overlap - some lecture style whole class teaching and 2 smaller seminar classes?