The bar graph illustrates the average class size in primary school (ages 5-10) and lower secondary school (ages 13-16) in six different countries, and compares the figure with the world average in the year 2006.
Overall, South Korea and Japan had the largest class sizes in both educational level, while Iceland and Denmark had the smallest. In most countries, lower secondary classes tended to be larger primary classes, with the exception of the UK and Iceland.
South Korea recorded the highest average for both school levels, with approximately 36 students in lower secondary and slightly fewer in primary education. Japon and Mexico followed closely, with about 34 students in lower secondary school. These figures were well above the world average, which stood at roughly 25 for primary and 26 for secondary classes.
In contrast, Iceland had the smallest class sizes, with just around 15 students in both education levels, Danimark showed a similar pattern, with fewer than 20 students per class in each category. Interestingly, in the UK and Iceland, class sizes remained nearly equal across the two school levels.
Mexico also had a relatively large class size for primary school at approximately 30 students, but a slight decrease was seen in secondary classes, making it the only country besides the UK and Iceland where the class size did not increase with educational level.