When I did my original PAL course a couple of decades ago, it was during the weekend and there was about 16 people in the class. For the practical, it was a fairly large room and the instructor took each student when it was their turn to the far end of the room where the long guns were laid out on the table and did the practical individually, calling each student when it was their turn. The rest of the students mingled at their desks, and few were chit chatting, as no doubt they were trying to catch a sneak peek of what was going on with each student's practical.
I just did my restricted course this past August, it was a weeknight and there were only 5 or so students there. In this case, the meeting room was VERY small and the instructor sent us all out to the lobby to wait while one student at a time was called in to do their practical. Once they were done, the instructor sent them out to the parking lot to go home (it was like 10:30 at night by this time) and then called in the next student. I would almost prefer it this way as you are one-on-one with the instructor, can take your time and not worry about others trying to watch what you are doing, etc. - and no one knows which guns the instructor will pick to use or what specifically he/she will ask the students to demonstrate ahead of time.