Hundreds of head teachers protest at Parliament Square

Head teachers from England and Wales have gathered at Parliament Square in London to protest over lack of funding in schools and overcrowded classrooms.

They will be delivering a letter to No 11 Downing Street stating their concerns over bigger class sizes staffing cuts, reduced subject choices, and loss of support for special needs and pastoral services.

The leaders of both the National Association of Head Teachers and the Association of School and College Leaders are attending the protest.

ASCL leader Geoff Barton said the planned gathering "demonstrates the strength of feeling" of head teachers.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies' claim that per pupil funding has fallen 8% in real terms since 2010.

The government however argues that school funds will rise to a record £43.5bn by 2020 and a new funding formula will bring more cash to schools.

Highlighting the issue of overcrowded classrooms, research from Oxford Home Schooling, part of the Oxford Open Learning Trust, showed that the ratio of pupils to qualified teachers in upper secondary education stands at 26.1 pupils aged 14-16 per teacher in the UK, while the average for other member states stands at 12.9. See https://www.oxfordhomeschooling.co.uk/blog/european-education/ for more information.