NSW’s acting auditor-general Ian Goodwin has flagged an increase in class sizes.

Mr Goodwin released the Planning for School Infrastructure report this week, which notes that the NSW school population is on track to grow to nearly 1.5 million students over the next 15 years.

More than 80 per cent of those pupils will be in Sydney schools.

The auditor-general went over the education department's School Assets Strategic Plan, which looks at ways to minimise costs like increasing students in new and re-developed schools, changing school catchments and using more recycled school assets. 

But Mr Goodwin says more savings are needed, and putting more kids in each class is one option.

Opposition Leader Luke Foley says there has to be another way to deal with overcrowded schools.

“Last week I said they're softening us up for increased class sizes and I think this report today confirms that,” he told reporters.

“Increased class sizes are put forward as perhaps the only option in the circumstances to solve the problem, but it's not the only option.”

The plan proposes a range of changes to the way schools are planned, designed, built, managed and funded, including:

  • increasing the maximum number of students in new and redeveloped schools
  • a stronger emphasis on redeveloping schools
  • smaller, more intensely developed sites
  • changing and enforcing school catchments
  • increased partnership with the private sector
  • more recycling of school assets to deliver better facilities
  • moving towards planning on a cluster basis, rather than a school-by-school basis.

A full copy of the report is available here.