New figures show local class sizes among the best in Scotland

Class sizes at Orkney’s primary schools remain among the smallest in Scotland — as are pupil-teacher ratios across all of the islands’ schools.

New figures from the Scottish Government show that there are 18 pupils, on average, in primary classes across the county — compared to a national average of 23 — and that in Scotland, Orkney has the third lowest ratio of pupils to teachers.

In early years classes — primary one to primary three — 45 per cent of children are in classes of 18 or less, the second best figure for Scotland.

The figures also show that the number of teachers in Orkney has fallen by 17 to 252 in total over the past year.