'I know you are busy': Students apologetic, 'short-changed' as university class sizes explode

Universities have been accused of compromising Australian education, with a major report showing class sizes have skyrocketed since COVID-19.

A union says university management and the government have ignored a serious problem for too long. Source: AAP / Bianca de Marchi

In brief

• A national survey of more than 4,000 uni staff found class sizes have skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Several staff complained about not knowing students' names and long queues forming at the end of tutorials.

Students are cramming into university tutorials and labs as overworked academics confront a class size "crisis".

A national survey of 4,421 university staff conducted in early 2025 by the National Tertiary Education Union found class sizes have skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The major report, released on Wednesday, showed three out of five university staff surveyed (62 per cent) reported tutorial and lab sizes had grown since 2019, with 35 per cent describing the change as significant.

Staff indicated the share of tutorials with 30 or more students had doubled from 27 per cent to 54 per cent.

At the same time, the proportion with 10 to 19 students — considered the ideal range by teaching staff — more than halved from 21 per cent to just 9 per cent.

About 83 per cent of staff believed their ability to support students individually had been compromised, while 78 per cent suggested student engagement and learning outcomes had worsened.

Several staff complained about not knowing students' names and long queues forming at the end of tutorials waiting to have work checked.

"Students generally consult less now, and are often apologetic, starting with 'I know you are busy'," one survey respondent said.

"It's very sad that students feel a query they have to support their learning is going to someone who is already overworked."

Staff have complained about not knowing students' names due to tutorials being too full. Source: AAP / Bianca de Marchi

One anonymous staff member said they were paid 17 hours for 160 hours of work coordinating a course, and another "knackered" academic calculated they worked two years of free overtime in four years.

"Students feel short-changed," one said.

'Dangerous ripple effect'

The report blew the lid off a crisis that university management and the federal government had ignored for too long, the union's national president Alison Barnes said.

"Students aren't getting the attention they need and their education suffers," Barnes said.

"This could have a dangerous ripple effect that we feel for generations."

The union has linked the problem to chronic underfunding and the introduction of the Morrison government's Job-ready Graduates package in 2021.

It is calling on the federal government to restore per-student funding across all disciplines, including humanities, social sciences, business and law degrees.

The Albanese government is yet to announce a new funding model since the 2024 Universities Accord recommended an overhaul.

---

For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.