Number of infants in "supersized" classes has doubled It is claimed that rising birth-rate combined with an influx of migrants in some areas have placed significant strain on infant classes - leaving some children without a school place at all. Earlier this year, Sutton Council in south London called on ministers to allow schools to run classes of 32 pupils to ease the pressure on place. According to the DfE, the average class for five- to seven-year-olds now contains 27.2 pupils, up from 26.9 a year earlier and just 25.7 in 2008. At the same time, 3.1 per cent of all pupils - 47,290 - are being taught in lessons of 31 or more children. This was up from 43,065 a year ago and just 24,760 in 2008. Labour introduced legislation banning the practice in 1997 but schools can get special permission to squeeze more pupils into a single class in special circumstances. This includes parents successfully lodging appeals against a school's decision not to admit their child or when heads are forced to accommodate twins and triplets in the same lesson to avoid splitting up siblings. According to the figures, 40,690 pupils were lawfully large lessons, while another 6,595 were in "illegal" lessons.