Parents and teachers are being asked to consider proposals to reduce maximum class sizes for 11-year-olds.

Brighton and Hove Council is looking at plans to reduce the limit for the number of children in classes at Key Stage 2 from 35 to 32. At present, there are 79 classes with more than 32 pupils spread across 17 out of 44 primary schools in Brighton and Hove.

In some cases classes are as big as 37 following appeals by parents to gain a place at a specific school for their children.

It is hoped the change would help school sites become less congested, help improve behaviour and increase the time teachers can spend with individual children, which would help to raise standards.

The move was backed by education officers at the council and by Pat Hawkes, lead councillor for school effectiveness, at a meeting.

She said: "It is disgraceful that we find ourselves with 79 classes of more than 32 pupils.

"I am pleased this consultation will give teachers and school governors the chance to discuss it."

Ann Antonio, of the National Union of Teachers, said most teachers would back the plans. She said: "Anything that will bring the level of children in a class down I would heartily endorse on educational grounds, as it would allow teachers more time for the children."

Drawbacks to the proposed change would include a reduction in the number of children who gain a place at their first-choice school.

It could particularly affect pupils at Balfour Infant School in Hove who are already fighting for places at Balfour Junior School which can admit fewer children than the infant school.

Councillor Lynda Hyde said: "We must not move away from offering parental choice. The reason these schools are oversubscribed is because they are successful. If you ask any parent if they would rather their child went to a successful school with 35 children in a class or a less successful one with 30 I think they would chose the larger classes."

This view was refuted by Frieda Warman-Brown, lead councillor for education and lifelong learning.

She said: "Getting every class up to the same standard underpins everything we do as a council and we have to get across to parents there are other good schools around in addition to the traditionally popular ones. It is not good for pupils to be sat in classrooms that weren't built for the numbers. Reducing the maximum number of children in classes makes sense for parents, pupils and education."

There is no legal limit on class sizes at Key Stage 2, unlike Key Stage 1 when the number of youngsters in a classroom is limited to 30.

If agreed by parents, teachers and councillors the earliest the change could be implemented is September 2002.