Tutorials of 30-plus students ‘now the norm’, survey finds

Class sizes at Australian universities have blown out since the pandemic, with tutorials of dozens and lectures of hundreds now the norm, according to the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU).

An NTEU survey of nearly 3,700 academics and 800 general staff has found that student support is becoming increasingly difficult to provide as classes balloon. Eighty-nine per cent of tutorials – the “most personal” type of class – have 20 or more students, even though almost two-thirds of respondents believe classes of less than 20 are optimal for learning.

Sixty-two per cent of respondents said tutorials had increased in size since 2019, with half now containing between 30 and 100 students, and 38 per cent said lectures had grown – particularly “at the upper end of the scale”.

“There are too many students and not enough time,” the report says. “Staff describe tutorials that have become mini-lectures, classrooms where students queue along the walls waiting for help, and a creeping impossibility of knowing – let alone supporting – the students in their care.”

This “erosion of small-group teaching” is especially damaging for disadvantaged students, the report says. “They are…least likely to have the external support networks – family experience of university, financial cushions, established social capital – that can compensate when institutional support is withdrawn.”

NTEU president Alison Barnes blamed “decades of chronic underfunding” culminating in the 2021 Job-ready Graduates (JRG) reforms, which “slashed” taxpayer support for humanities, social sciences, business and law degrees.

“The real-life consequences are unmanageable workloads, with students ultimately paying the price,” Barnes said. “This report blows the lid off a crisis that university management and the federal government have been ignoring for too long.”

JRG left universities “structurally dependent” on enrolment growth to maintain revenue, the report says. “Universities facing reduced per-student revenue had three choices: reduce the number of students they enrol, reduce the cost of educating each student, or find other revenue sources.

“For most institutions, growing class sizes – reducing the per-student cost of teaching – became a central strategy for managing the shortfall.”

The report says universities’ “spending priorities”, such as high executive pay, exacerbated the funding squeeze. But the primary responsibility lies with government, which must “repeal” JRG, the report says. “The question is whether it will act with the urgency this crisis demands.”

Universities Australia supported the call. “This report further exposes the real-world consequences of a policy that simply isn’t working,” said CEO Luke Sheehy.

“The government’s latest budget was framed around fairness and supporting future generations but what about university students? Labor campaigned against JRG but, after four years in government, students are still paying the price.”

Education minister Jason Clare said JRG had “failed” and the Australian Universities Accord’s 47 recommendations had included changes to the scheme. “We’ve bitten off a big chunk of its recommendations already – 31 of 47 in full or in part,” Clare said. “This is unfinished business and there is more work to do.”

Health economist Stephen Duckett is working with the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec) to quantify the costs of university teaching and learning, in what is considered a precursor to possible changes to the JRG. However, Atec’s legislation does not specifically empower it to advise on fees.

A Greens bill to reverse the most extreme JRG fee hikes is before the Senate. Universities oppose it because it does not include offsetting increases to teaching subsidies.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com