On average across OECD countries, at least 90% of the population was enrolled in education from age 4 to 17 in 2016, a wider age range than compulsory education (on average age 6-16). The transition to the labour market or to tertiary education typically occurs between 17 and 20.
In 2016, 85% of 15-19 year-olds were enrolled in education on average across OECD countries. Enrolment rates for 15-year-olds and 16-year-olds were above 95% for almost all OECD countries, but they drop to 63% for 19-year-olds and 54% for 20-year-olds.
Repeaters represent 2% of students enrolled in general programmes in lower secondary education and 4% in upper secondary education. On average across OECD countries with available data, boys are more likely to repeat a grade than girls.
Education at a Glance 2018
Indicator B1. Who participates in education?
Figure B1.1. Enrolment rate transition from age 16 to age 20 (2016)
1. Excludes post-secondary non-tertiary education.
Countries are ranked in descending order of enrolment rates at age 16.
Source: OECD (2018), Table B1.2. SeeSource section at the end of this indicator for more information and Annex 3 for notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
Context
Paths through the education system can be diverse, both across countries and for different individuals within the same country. Experiences in primary and lower secondary are probably the most similar across countries. At these levels, education is usually compulsory and not very differentiated as pupils progress through primary and lower secondary education. But as people have different abilities, needs and preferences, most education systems try to offer different types of education programmes and modes of participation, especially at the more advanced levels of education (upper secondary and beyond) and for adults.
Ensuring that people have suitable opportunities to attain adequate levels of education is a critical challenge and depends on their capacity to progress through the different levels of an educational system. Successful completion of upper secondary programmes is vital to address equity issues (see Indicator A9 in Education at a Glance 2017 (OECD, 2017[1])), but graduation rates still vary widely among OECD countries (see Indicator B3). Developing and strengthening both general and vocational education (see Definitions section at the end of this indicator) at upper secondary level can make education more inclusive and appealing to individuals with different preferences and inclinations. In many education systems, vocational education and training (VET) enables some adults to reintegrate into a learning environment and develop skills that will increase their employability. In addition, VET programmes are often chosen by students who found it difficult to progress through earlier levels of education and are thus more at risk of not completing upper secondary education (OECD, 2017[1]). A strong upper secondary system, therefore, ensures flexible pathways for students to either pursue higher education or enter directly into the labour market.
Other findings
Across the OECD, at least 90% of students can expect to be in education for an average duration of 14 years, ranging from 10 years in the Slovak Republic and Turkey to 17 years in Norway.
Young adults spend more years studying: between 2005 and 2016, the enrolment of 20-24 year-olds in education increased by 6 percentage points on average across OECD countries with available data for both years.
The share of part-time enrolment increases with higher levels of education and with the average age of students enrolled. On average across OECD countries, part-time students represented 20% of enrolment in tertiary education in 2016. The share of part-time students increases to 35% among students age 25 or older and to 44% among students age 30 or older.
Analysis
Compulsory education
In OECD countries, compulsory education typically begins with primary education starting at age 6, earlier in about one-third of OECD and partner countries and later (at age 7) in Estonia, Finland, Indonesia, the Russian Federation, South Africa and Sweden. In addition, compulsory education ends with completion or partial completion of upper secondary education at an age ranging from 14 in Korea and Slovenia to 18 in Belgium, Chile, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal. Although compulsory education goes from age 6 to 16 on average across the OECD, the enrolment rate is high in a wider age range, and at least 90% of the population is enrolled for 14 years, from age 4 to age 17, on average. The age interval is generally shorter for OECD partner countries, and full enrolment (defined in this indicator as enrolment rates exceeding 90%) can be as long as three years, as in South Africa, or four years, as in Colombia.
In more than two-thirds of OECD countries, the enrolment rate of 3-year-olds and 4‑year-olds in education exceeded 90% in 2016 (full enrolment). Enrolment at even earlier ages is relatively common in some countries, with Denmark, Iceland and Norway achieving full enrolment for 2-year-olds (see also Indicator B2). In other countries, full enrolment is achieved for children between age 5 and age 6, except in the Slovak Republic where full enrolment is achieved at age 7. Across most OECD countries, full enrolment ends when students are around 17 or 18 years old, but it ends substantially earlier in Mexico (age 14), Austria and Turkey (both at age 15). There is no country in which more than 90% of 19-year-olds are enrolled in education.
In all OECD countries, compulsory education comprises primary and lower secondary programmes. In most countries, compulsory education also covers, at least partially, upper secondary education, depending on the theoretical age ranges associated with the different levels of education in each country. In OECD countries, there is nearly universal coverage of basic education, as enrolment rates among 5-14 year-olds attained or exceeded 95% in all OECD countries except the Slovak Republic (93%). Enrolment of 5-14 year-olds is nearly universal among OECD partner countries, except in Colombia (87%), Costa Rica (93%) and South Africa (84%).
Profile of students in secondary education
Lower secondary education programmes are typically designed to build on the learning outcomes from primary education and usually aim to lay the foundation for lifelong learning and human development upon which further education would be based. Programmes at this level are usually organised to let students transition to a more subject-oriented curriculum, introducing theoretical concepts across a broad range of subjects. Programmes classified at this level may be referred to as secondary (stage one or lower grades), junior secondary school, middle school or junior high school. The duration of lower secondary educational programmes ranges from a minimum of two years in Belgium to five years in the Slovak Republic and up to six years in Germany.
Upper secondary education is typically designed to complete secondary education in preparation for tertiary education or to provide skills to enter the labour market, or both. Programmes at this level offer students more varied, specialised and in-depth instruction than at lower secondary level. Students typically enter this level between age 14 and age 16, and these programmes usually end 12 or 13 years after the beginning of primary school. Programmes classified at this level may be referred to as secondary school (stage two or upper grades), senior secondary school or (senior) high school. Lower and upper secondary education includes second-chance programmes, literacy programmes, adult education and continuing education. The length of upper secondary education varies from two years in Australia, Ireland, Lithuania and the Russian Federation to five years in Italy.
In recent years, countries have increased the diversity of their upper secondary programmes. This diversification is both a response to the growing demand for upper secondary education and a result of changes in curricula and labour-market needs. Curricula have gradually evolved from separating general and vocational programmes to offering more comprehensive programmes that include both types of learning, leading to more flexible pathways into further education or the labour market.
The structure of secondary education depends on several factors, including the entry age, the length of the programmes and the existence of vocational and combined school- and work-based programmes, as well as the extent to which the programmes allow adult enrolment for those enrolled after entry into the labour market (e.g. second-chance programmes, literacy programmes, adult education and continuing education).
Across OECD countries, the average age of enrolment in lower secondary education is 14, although it varies from 12 in Austria and Italy to 17 in Mexico and 19 in Belgium. The average age of enrolment at upper secondary level reaches 19, but at this level, the average age varies more than at lower levels, due to the greater variety of programmes, including those more oriented towards the needs of the labour market, and whether they cater to adult learners. In fact, the average age of enrolment varies from 16 in Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Russian Federation and the United States to 25 in Finland. Denmark, Finland, Iceland and New Zealand have the largest increase in the average age of enrolment from lower to upper secondary programmes (above seven years).
Public institutions tend to dominate the overall share of enrolments across education levels, although their share tends to decrease with increasing levels of education. On average across OECD countries in 2016, around 85% of students in lower secondary education were enrolled in public institutions. Among all OECD and partner countries, only Belgium, Chile and the United Kingdom have more than 50% of students enrolled at this level in private institutions, which include a large percentage of students enrolled in government-dependent private institutions. At upper secondary level, the share of enrolment in public institutions drops to 80% on average across OECD countries, with a decrease by over 20 percentage points in Iceland, Japan and Korea, where private institutions play a more prominent role at this level. By contrast, a larger share of students are enrolled in public institutions at upper secondary level than at lower secondary level in Denmark, Israel and Spain.
Vocational education and training programmes
Vocational education and training programmes are seen to be effective for developing skills to ensure a smooth and successful transition into the labour market. Countries with well-established VET and apprenticeship programmes have been more effective in holding the line on youth unemployment (see Indicator A3). At the same time, some countries consider vocational education a less attractive option than academic education, and some research suggests that participation in vocational education increases the risk of unemployment at later ages (Hanushek, Woessmann and Zhang, 2011[2]).
Vocational programmes in OECD countries offer different combinations of vocational studies along with apprenticeship programmes. Upper secondary students in many education systems can enrol in vocational programmes, but some OECD countries delay vocational training until students graduate from upper secondary education. For instance, while vocational programmes are offered as upper secondary education in Austria, Germany, Hungary and Spain, similar programmes are typically offered as post-secondary education in Canada.
On average across OECD countries, 56% of students in upper secondary education were enrolled in general programmes in 2016, while 44% were enrolled in vocational upper secondary programmes (Table B1.3). The distribution of secondary students enrolled in vocational versus general programmes largely depends on the education programmes available, as well as the labour-market outcomes of these programmes. In about one-third of the countries with available data, a larger share of upper secondary students are enrolled in vocational programmes than in general programmes, with at least 70% in the Czech Republic, Finland and Slovenia. In contrast, in Argentina and Ireland, where vocational programmes are not offered at all at this level, as well as in Brazil, Canada and India, more than 90% of upper secondary students are enrolled in general programmes (Table B1.3).
In combined school- and work-based programmes, between 10% and 75% of the curriculum is presented in the school environment or through distance education. These include apprenticeship programmes that involve concurrent school-based and work-based training, as well as programmes that involve alternating periods of attendance at educational institutions and participation in work-based training (see Definitions section at the end of this indicator). On average across the OECD, 11% of students in upper secondary education are enrolled in this type of programme, although they are offered in and data are available for only 21 OECD countries. In Hungary and Latvia, all vocational programmes are combined school- and work-based programmes.
Repeaters
Completing educational programmes at different ISCED levels over their lifetime allows individuals to progress to higher levels of education and empowers them throughout life to access and have better opportunities in the labour market. At the same time, dropping out or repeating a grade can lead to premature withdrawal from school and lower employability of school leavers, causing a loss for educational systems in terms of social and financial resources, such as students’ learning, school buildings’ usage and teachers’ work time (UNESCO International Bureau of Education, 1970[3]).
Equity in education can be related to the policies that schools employ to sort and select students. Grade repetition, the practice of retaining students in the same grade, is used to give struggling students more time to master grade-appropriate content before moving on to the next grade (and prevent them from dropping out). Even if research finds that grade repetition can be ineffective in enhancing the achievement of low performers in the short run (OECD, 2016[4]), early retention may lead to better outcomes than late retention and retained students may catch up after several years (Fruehwirth, Navarro and Takahashi, 2016[5]).
Socio-economically disadvantaged students with an immigrant background and boys are more likely to repeat grades than advantaged students (OECD, 2016[4]) and this could also lead to persisting socio-economic inequalities. Completion rates are usually lower for students with a disadvantaged background (e.g. lower educational status of parents, first-generation immigrants) (OECD, 2017[1]) (OECD, 2016[6]).
The way educational systems cope with students who repeat grades may differ to a large extent between countries and within the same countries, depending on educational levels, programmes, rural or urban areas, socio-economic conditions or other factors. In most countries, repeaters tend to be concentrated in the last two years before graduation, while in some others the distribution over different grades is more even. In a smaller number of countries, repeating grades is restricted by law and school regulations, and the concept of repeating does not even exist, especially at lower educational levels. This is the case for lower secondary education programmes in Norway, for upper secondary programmes in Finland, and for both types of programmes in the United Kingdom. In Canada, lower and upper secondary school students generally repeat only courses that they have failed and not whole grades, while primary students are typically not made to repeat grades.
The share of repeaters varies to a large extent by country and by educational level. It reaches 2% in lower secondary general programmes (this excludes adult learners) and increases with higher levels of education. Grade repetition is relatively uncommon in lower secondary general programmes and is below 5% in most countries. However, the share of repeaters exceeds 10% in Argentina, Costa Rica, Luxembourg and Spain (Figure B1.2).
Figure B1.2. Share of repeaters and share of boys in the number of repeaters in secondary education (2016)
1. Year of reference 2015.
Countries are ranked in descending order of the share of repeaters in lower secondary education.
Source: OECD (2018), Table B1.3. See Source section at the end of this indicator for more information and Annex 3 for notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
Grade repetition is more common in upper secondary education, especially in the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Mexico and South Africa, where repeaters represent at least 10% of the enrolled students, but also in Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica (all three countries at 8%) and Italy (7%).
The share of repeaters in upper secondary education is 4% on average across OECD countries, 2 percentage points higher than for lower secondary education. The largest increase in the share of repeaters at upper secondary level is observed in the Czech Republic (10 percentage points higher than for lower secondary programmes) and Mexico (13 percentage points higher). Conversely, the share of repeaters is lower at upper than at lower secondary level in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Greece and the Slovak Republic.
On average across OECD countries with available data, boys are more likely to repeat a grade than girls and represent 60% of the number of repeaters in lower secondary education and 58% in upper secondary education (Figure B1.2). This is true in lower secondary education for all the countries, with the exception of Turkey, where girls are over-represented in the number of repeaters (only 42% are boys). In Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland and Slovenia, two out of three repeaters at lower secondary level are boys. This is also the case in upper secondary education for Israel, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Turkey, while grade repetition is more common for girls in Estonia.
Box B1.1. Over-age students
Over-age students are those who are at least two years older than the intended age for each grade. The number and share of over-age students are a complementary metric to those of repeaters: over-age students in the last grade are those who are likely to start the next educational level with at least a two-year delay compared to the intended age. The number of repeaters and over-age students are strictly linked, as in most countries the main reason for a high share of over-age students is the accumulation over different grades of students who have repeated at least one year (i.e. the marginal increase in the number of over-age students at each grade is correlated with the number of repeaters at that grade). Over-age attendance as a result of grade repetition and/or late entry risks reducing participation in education (UNESCO, 2016[7]).
It is relatively common in partner countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, but also in Chile and Hungary, to have a high share of over-age enrolment in the last grade of primary school, especially in Brazil, Colombia and South Africa, where over-age students represent more than 10% of pupils enrolled. For all other countries with available data, this share ranges between 0% and 5% (Figure B1.a). In the last grade of lower secondary education, this share increases for most countries and doubles on average across the OECD (from 2% to 4%). The share of over-age students increases most from the last grade of primary education to the last grade of lower secondary education for Argentina (by 10 percentage points), Costa Rica (by 14 percentage points), Luxembourg (by 12 percentage points) and Spain (by 8 percentage points), while it decreases substantially for Hungary (by 7 percentage points), highlighting a high rate of dropout and a drop in enrolment rates for 15-19 year-olds.
Figure B1.a. Share of over-age students in the last grade of primary and lower secondary education (2016)
1. Year of reference 2015.
Countries are ranked in descending order of their share of over-age students in primary education
Source: OECD (2018), Table B1.3 and data available on line. See Source section at the end of this indicator for more information and Annex 3for notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
Participation of 15-19 year-olds in education
On average across OECD countries, 85% of the population aged 15-19 are enrolled in education. This age range corresponds to the end of compulsory education and upper secondary programmes in many countries. By age 19 or 20, students in most OECD countries transition to tertiary education or leave school to enter the labour market. While enrolment is nearly universal at age 15 and 16 (above 90% for most countries), enrolment rates start dropping at later ages. The countries that experience the largest decrease between age 16 and age 20 are Israel, Luxembourg and Sweden.
In 2016, enrolment rates among 15-16 year-olds (i.e. those typically in upper secondary programmes) reached at least 95% on average across the OECD. At age 17, 92% of individuals are enrolled in education on average across the OECD, reaching 99% or more in Ireland, and Sweden, but also in partner countries Lithuania and Saudi Arabia. By contrast, fewer than 80% of 17-year-olds are enrolled in education in Brazil, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey, with the lowest rate in Colombia (52%).
Enrolment patterns start dropping significantly at age 18: 76% of 18-year-olds are enrolled in secondary, post-secondary non-tertiary, or tertiary education, on average across OECD countries. Declines in enrolment for this age group coincide with the end of upper secondary education. The drop in enrolment between age 17 and age 18 is at least 25 percentage points in Brazil, Chile, Greece, Korea, New Zealand and Turkey. By the time students reach age 19, enrolment rates decrease to 63% on average across OECD countries (Table B1.2). In some countries, the enrolment rate follows a different pattern and increases after the age of 18: for example, in Greece the enrolment rate increases from 64% at the age of 18 to 74% at the age of 20.
The share of students enrolled in each education level and at each age is illustrative of the different educational systems and pathways in countries. As students get older, they move on to higher educational levels or types of programmes, and the enrolment rate in upper secondary education (combined general and vocational) decreases. Depending on the structure of the educational system, students across the OECD may start enrolling in post-secondary non-tertiary or tertiary education from the age of 17. However this is still the exception for this age group, with 90% of 17-year-olds still enrolled in secondary education, on average across OECD countries. Students start diversifying their pathways significantly from age 18, although the age of transition between upper secondary and tertiary education varies substantially among countries. While at least 90% of 18-year-olds are still enrolled in upper secondary in Finland, Norway, Poland, Slovenia and Sweden, more than 60% of students in Korea and the Russian Federation are already starting their tertiary education at that age. On average across OECD countries, 26% of 19-year-olds are still enrolled in secondary education. However, in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland, more than 40% of 19-year-olds are still enrolled in secondary education. These high shares may partly be explained by the structure of the education system and the strength of the labour opportunities offered by vocational upper secondary programmes in these countries, making them more attractive than tertiary education. Enrolment of 19-year-olds in tertiary education averages 34% across OECD countries, ranging from 2% in Luxembourg (the low share is due in large part to the high number of students studying abroad) and 3% in Iceland to 73% in Korea.
Enrolment of 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds has been increasing since 2010, although the extent of the increase for each age varies across countries. Among OECD and partner countries with available data, Australia has had the most striking increase in enrolment of 18-year-olds since 2010, with a rise of 11 percentage points. Other countries have seen a more moderate increase. Enrolment of 18-year-olds has increased by 6 to 9 percentage points in Belgium, Chile, Mexico, and Spain in the past decade, but the current enrolment rate in Chile and Mexico is still below the OECD average of 76%. While most countries with available data have seen enrolment levels of 18-year-olds rise since 2010, some countries have witnessed a decline: of 8 percentage points in Germany (partly because of the recent inflow of refugees which increased the population of this age), 10 percentage points in Hungary and 6 percentage points in Lithuania. The enrolment rate has increased by at least 11 percentage points in Australia (for 19- and 20-year-olds), Estonia (for 20-year-olds) and Spain (for 19- and 20-year-olds). In Poland, enrolment has increased by at least 35 percentage points for both ages (Table B1.2).
Post-secondary non-tertiary education programmes (see Reader’s Guide) play a smaller role in most OECD and partner countries. These types of programmes are not offered at all in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Turkey and the United Kingdom. On average across OECD countries, 1% to 4% of young adults between age 17 and age 19 are enrolled in either general or vocational programmes at this level. In some countries, however, enrolment at this level is more substantial. The proportion of 19-year-olds enrolled in post-secondary non-tertiary programmes is 11% in Germany and Greece and 17% in Hungary and Ireland (Table B1.2).
Participation of 20-29 year-olds in education
For 20-year-olds, the enrolment rate drops to 55% on average across OECD countries, as students start to enter the labour market. Rates vary from 40% or less in Luxembourg, Mexico and most OECD partner countries to 70% or higher in Australia, Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands and Slovenia. Levels of enrolment at this age depend on the structure of the education system and the labour-market outcomes expected from the programmes. More than half of the enrolled 20-year-olds are in secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary programmes in Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Luxembourg, Switzerland and South Africa, while tertiary education constitutes the typical level of enrolment of most 20-year-olds in other OECD countries, and it represents over 90% of enrolment in Chile, Korea, the Russian Federation and the United States.
The sharpest decline in enrolment across age groups occurs between the age groups 20-24 and 25-29, on average across OECD and partner countries. In OECD countries in 2016, an average of 42% of 20-24 year-olds, but only 16% of 25-29 year-olds, were enrolled in upper secondary, post-secondary non-tertiary education or tertiary education programmes. However, the enrolment rate of 20-24 year-olds in education increased over time, as did that of other age groups. Among the countries with available data, the largest increases between 2005 and 2016 were in Australia, Poland and Spain (14 percentage points or more). Other countries, however, witnessed a decrease in enrolment rates over this 11-year span: Finland, Hungary, Lithuania and New Zealand experienced a drop of at least 3 percentage points (Table B1.1).
Enrolment for 25-29 year-olds follows the same pattern of increase as other groups: on average across OECD countries, the enrolment rate in 2016 was 3 percentage points higher than its value in 2010. Australia and Poland experienced the sharpest increase (8 percentage points or more), while enrolment decreased in other countries, including New Zealand and the Russian Federation, where it dropped by at least 5 percentage points in the period 2005-16.
Participation of adults over 30 years of age
It is crucial to ensure that adults have access to organised learning opportunities beyond initial formal education. Such opportunities can help adults who need to adapt to changes throughout their working careers, those who want to enter the labour force but feel that they lack the necessary qualifications, or those who feel they need to improve their skills and knowledge to participate more actively in social life. Adult education aims to improve people’s technical or professional qualifications, develop their abilities and enrich their knowledge. Participants in adult education may or may not complete a level of formal education, but they stand to gain from acquiring or updating knowledge, skills and competencies. Adult learning takes many forms, including formal and non-formal education, on-the-job training and informal education. This section deals with formal educational programmes (i.e. institutional, intentional and planned education provided by public organisations and recognised private bodies). A broader view of adult education, including non-formal education, is found in Indicator A7.
For adults over age 30, enrolment in formal educational programmes can be still considerable. On average across OECD countries, only 7% of adults between age 30 and age 39 are enrolled in education, but the rates can be as high as 19% in Australia and 16% in Finland. Since 2005, enrolment rates for this age group have been increasing on average across OECD countries, with a maximum increase of 6 percentage points in Australia. In other countries, however, enrolment in this age group has been decreasing, for example in New Zealand and Slovenia (by 4 percentage points).
The enrolment rate of adults over age 40 was 1% on average across the OECD countries with available data in 2016. However, the rates are still relatively high in Australia (6%) and in Belgium, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, Sweden and the United Kingdom (all six countries at 3%). The higher enrolment rates for these age groups in certain countries may be explained by more part-time enrolments or the prevalence of lifelong learning programmes. For instance, credit-based systems in Sweden allow adults to study selected parts of a programme in formal education as a way to upgrade their skills in specific areas. Students may select their own combination of freestanding courses and if these combinations meet stipulated requirements, a qualification may be awarded.
Figure B1.3. Part-time enrolment in tertiary education, by age group (2016)
1. Excludes enrolment in short-cycle tertiary programmes in private institutions.
Countries are ranked in descending order of their share of part-time enrolment in tertiary education for all ages.
Source: OECD (2018), Education at a Glance Database, http://stats.oecd.org/. See Source section at the end of this indicator for more information and Annex 3 for notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
The share of part-time enrolment increases with higher levels of education and with the average age of students enrolled. On average across OECD countries, part-time students represented 20% of enrolment in tertiary education in 2016 (Figure B1.3), compared to 9% in upper secondary education. This share is higher in many countries and can exceed 40% in Australia, the Netherlands and Sweden.
The share of part-time students increases to 35%, even when students younger than 25 are excluded, reaching two-thirds of total enrolment or more in Hungary, New Zealand and the Russian Federation. Part-time enrolment is even more common among students age 30 or older and reaches 44% across all OECD countries with available data. The countries for which the share of part-time enrolment increases the most with age (from all ages to 30-year-olds and above) are Hungary, New Zealand, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia, with increases of over 50 percentage points. In no country does part-time enrolment decrease with age.
Subnational variations in enrolment
Subnational variation in enrolment patterns reveals the equality of access to education across a country, as well as labour-market opportunities and perceptions on lifelong learning for levels beyond compulsory education. Between the ages of 5-14 (corresponding to compulsory education in many countries) and 15-19 (when students transition to the labour market or to tertiary education), subnational differences are lower than for other ages, with coefficients of variation across regions lower than 20% in all countries with subnational data.
On average across all countries with subnational data and across age groups starting at age 5, the largest variation in enrolment at subnational level can be observed for older age groups. While regional differences in enrolment levels for 20-29 year-olds are lower in Belgium, Germany, Sweden and the United States, the coefficient of variation shows considerable variations and exceeds 35% in Austria, Colombia, Korea, Slovenia and Turkey. Colombia and Turkey have also the highest ratios between the highest and lowest enrolment levels in their regions for this age group.
Subnational disparities in enrolment increase for 30-39 year-olds. The variation is especially high in Spain and Turkey, where the coefficient of regional variation exceeds 60%. In this age group, however, regional differences compared to 20-29 year-olds decrease to a large extent for Slovenia. The enrolment rate for older ages (40-year-olds and above) are relatively low, reaching 1% on average across OECD countries. Regional differences at this age are still observed across countries with available data, particularly in Belgium, Germany and Italy, where the coefficient of variation across regions increases the most for this age group.
Definitions
The data in this indicator cover formal education programmes that represent at least the equivalent of one semester (or one-half of a school/academic year) of full-time study and take place entirely in educational institutions or are delivered as combined school- and work-based programmes.
Full enrolment, for the purposes of this indicator, is defined as enrolment rates exceeding 90%.
General education programmes are designed to develop learners’ general knowledge, skills and competencies, often to prepare them for other general or vocational education programmes at the same or a higher education level. General education does not prepare people for employment in a particular occupation, trade or class of occupations or trades.
Vocational education and training (VET) programmes prepare participants for direct entry into specific occupations without further training. Successful completion of such programmes leads to a vocational or technical qualification that is relevant to the labour market. Vocational programmes are further divided into two categories (school-based programmes and combined school- and work-based programmes), determined by the amount of training provided in school as opposed to the workplace. The degree to which a programme has a vocational or general orientation does not necessarily determine whether participants have access to tertiary education. In several OECD countries, vocationally-oriented programmes are designed to prepare students for further study at the tertiary level, and in some countries general programmes do not always provide direct access to further education.
In combined school- and work-based programmes, between 10% and 75% of the curriculum is presented in the school environment or through distance education. Therefore, the work-based component of a school- and work-based programme would be a minimum of 25% and a maximum of 90%. These programmes can be organised in conjunction with education authorities or institutions. They include apprenticeship programmes that involve concurrent school-based and work-based training, as well as programmes that involve alternating periods of attendance at educational institutions and participation in work-based training (sometimes referred to as “sandwich” programmes).
Private institutions are institutions that receive more than 50% of their core funding from government agencies, if they are controlled and managed by a non-governmental organisation (e.g. a church, trade union or business enterprise), or if their governing board consists mostly of members not selected by a public agency.
Repeaters are those students who enrol in the same grade for a second or further time. Students who participate in a second or further education programme at the same level of education after having successfully completed a first programme are not regarded as repeaters. Repeaters include re-entrants to the same programme.
Over-age students are defined as those at least two years older than each grade’s intended age. Over-age students are defined according to each country’s education system keeping into account the different starting age for each grade. Students above the typical age are defined as those enrolled in upper secondary education that are 20 years old or older, regardless of the starting and ending ages at this level.
A full-time student as someone who is enrolled in an education programme whose intended study load amounts to at least 75% of the normal full-time annual study load. A part-time student is one who is enrolled in an education programme whose intended study load is less than 75% of the normal full-time annual study load.
Methodology
Except where otherwise noted, figures are based on head counts, because of the difficulty for some countries to quantify part-time study. Net enrolment rates are calculated by dividing the number of students of a particular age group enrolled in all levels of education by the size of the population of that age group. While enrolment and population figures refer to the same period in most cases, mismatches may occur due to data availability in some countries resulting in enrolment rates exceeding 100%.
The share of repeaters is the number of repeaters in a grade and year compared to the number of total students enrolled in the same grade and year. This indicator must therefore be interpreted with caution, as repeaters are not compared to their grade and year of origin but to the grade and year where they are re-enrolled.
For more information, please see the OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018: Concepts, Standards, Definitions and Classifications (OECD, 2018[8]) and Annex 3 for country-specific notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
Lithuania was not an OECD member at the time of preparation of this publication. Accordingly, Lithuania does not appear in the list of OECD members and is not included in the zone aggregates.
Source
Data refer to the academic year 2015/16 and are based on the UNESCO-UIS/OECD/EUROSTAT data collection on education statistics administered by the OECD in 2017 (for details, see Annex 3 at http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en). Data from Argentina, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa are from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS).
Data on subnational regions for selected indicators have been released by the OECD, with support from the US National Centre for Education Statistics (NCES) and are currently available for 15 countries. Subnational estimates were provided by countries using national data sources or by Eurostat based on data for Level 2 of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS 2).
Note regarding data from Israel
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and are under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.
References
[5] Fruehwirth, J., S. Navarro and Y. Takahashi (2016), “How the timing of grade retention affects outcomes: Identification and estimation of time-varying treatment effects”, Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 34/4, pp. 979-1021, http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/686262.
[2] Hanushek, E., L. Woessmann and L. Zhang (2011), “General education, vocational education, and labor-market outcomes over the life-cycle”, IZA Discussion Papers, 6083, http://ftp.iza.org/dp6083.pdf (accessed on 27 April 2018).
[8] OECD (2018), OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018: Concepts, Standards, Definitions and Classifications, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264304444-en.
[1] OECD (2017), Education at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2017-en.
[6] OECD (2016), Education at a Glance 2016 : OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2016-en (accessed on 12 January 2018).
[4] OECD (2016), PISA 2015 Results (Volume I): Excellence and Equity in Education, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264266490-en.
[7] UNESCO (2016), “Leaving no one behind: How far on the way to universal primary and secondary education? Global number of out−of−school children and youth, 2000−2014”, UNESCO Policy Paper, 27, http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/fs37-leaving-no-one-behind-how-far-on-the-way-to-universal-primary-and-secondary-education-2016-en.pdf (accessed on 27 June 2018).
[3] UNESCO International Bureau of Education (1970), Educational Trends in 1970: An International Survey, UNESCO, http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0000/000006/000673eo.pdf.
[9] UNESCO-UIS / OECD / EUROSTAT (2017), UOE data collection on formal education. Manual on concepts, definitions and classifications, UNESCO-UIS / OECD / EUROSTAT, http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/uoe2016manual_11072016_0.pdf.
Indicator B1 Tables
Table B1.1. Enrolment rates by age group (2005, 2010 and 2016)
Table B1.2. Students enrolled as a percentage of the population between the ages of 15 and 20 (2010, 2016)
Table B1.3. Profile of enrolled students (2016)
Data can be found on line at http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-data-en. More breakdowns can be found at http://stats.oecd.org/, Education at a Glance Database.
Table B1.1. Enrolment rates by age group (2005, 2010 and 2016)
Students in full-time and part-time programmes in both public and private institutions
1. Excludes post-secondary non-tertiary education.
2. Breakdown by age not available after 15 years old.
3. The age group of 5-14 year-olds includes 15-17 year-olds in primary education.
4. Year of reference 2015.
Source: OECD/UIS/Eurostat (2018). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
Please refer to the Reader’s Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations.
Table B1.2. Students enrolled as a percentage of the population between the ages of 15 and 20 (2010, 2016)
Students enrolled in full-time and part-time programmes in both public and private institutions
1. Excludes post-secondary non-tertiary education.
2. Year of reference 2015.
3. Data on upper secondary vocational programmes are included in post-secondary non-tertiary and short-cycle tertiary programmes.
Source: OECD/UIS/Eurostat (2018). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
Please refer to the Reader’s Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations.
Table B1.3. Profile of students enrolled in lower and upper secondary education (2016)
1. Year of reference 2015.
Source: OECD/UIS/Eurostat (2018). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).
Please refer to the Reader’s Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations.