Education at a Glance 2018

OECD Indicators

Report

Education at a Glance

11 September 2018

Download PDF

Indicator A1. To what level have adults studied?

In most countries, less than 20% of younger adults (age 25-34) have not completed upper secondary education. Gender differences are small in most countries, but the difference between men and women is over 10 percentage points in India, Portugal and Spain. More women than men do not have upper secondary education in India, while more men than women are in this situation in Portugal and Spain.
On average across OECD countries, 50% of women age 25-34 are tertiary-educated, compared to 38% of men.
Among 25-34 year-olds in most OECD countries, the majority of those who attained bachelor's or master's degrees are women, but 51% of those who attained a doctorate or equivalent degree are men.

Figure A1.1. Percentage of 25-34 year-olds without upper secondary education, by gender (2017)

Context

Giving everyone a fair chance to obtain a quality education is a fundamental part of the social contract. To improve social mobility and socio-economic outcomes, it is critically important to eliminate inequalities in educational opportunities. This will promote inclusive growth by broadening the pool of candidates for high-skilled jobs.

Educational attainment is measured as the percentage of the population that has reached a certain level of education and holds a formal qualification at that level. It is frequently used as a proxy measure of human capital and the level of an individual’s skills (i.e. a measure of the skills associated with a given level of education and available in the population and the labour force). In this sense, qualifications certify and offer information on the type of knowledge and skills that graduates have acquired in formal education.

Higher levels of educational attainment are associated with several positive economic and social outcomes for individuals (see Indicators A3, A4, A5 and A6). Highly educated individuals are more socially engaged and have higher employment rates and higher relative earnings. Higher proficiency in literacy and numeracy is also strongly associated with higher levels of formal education (OECD, 2016[1]).

Individuals thus have incentives to pursue more education, and governments have incentives to provide appropriate infrastructure and organisation to support the expansion of higher educational attainment across the population. Over past decades, almost all OECD countries have seen significant increases in educational attainment, especially among the young and among women.

According to the International Migration Outlook 2017 (OECD, 2017[2]), 13% of the total population in OECD countries are foreign-born. The size and the characteristics of this group vary across countries, and it is important to analyse these elements to better understand the composition of a country’s population. It is also important to consider how a country’s geographic location or proximity to other countries affects the demographics of the country’s foreign-born population. According to the OECD Demography and Population database, for example, in almost all European OECD countries, most immigrants are from Europe (OECD, 2018[3]). Educational attainment of the native-born and foreign-born population should also inform policies related to human capital within these two groups. In some cases, similarities or divergences between the two groups can signal the need for formal and/or non-formal adult education programmes (see Indicator A7).

Other findings

The expansion of tertiary education has largely been to the advantage of women. Among 55-64 year-olds, there is a perfect gender balance in the percentage of men and women who are tertiary-educated on average across OECD countries. However, among the younger generation (age 25-34), a larger share of women than men are attaining tertiary education.
The share of young men with vocationally oriented upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education is higher than that of young women, but the share of young men and women who completed general programmes as the highest educational level is about the same.
There are no clear patterns in the distribution of educational attainment among the native-born and foreign-born population across OECD countries. For instance, in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Israel and Poland, the percentage of tertiary-educated foreign-born adults is highest, at over 50%. In contrast, in Costa Rica and Italy, over 45% of foreign-born adults have not completed upper secondary education.

Analysis

Below upper secondary education

In most OECD countries, the large majority of younger adults (age 25-34) had at least an upper secondary qualification in 2017. In just a few decades, upper secondary schooling has been transformed from a vehicle for upward social mobility into a minimum requirement for life in modern society. Young people who leave school before completing upper secondary education not only face difficulties in the labour market, but also have particularly low cognitive skills compared with upper secondary graduates. Those who leave school before completing upper secondary education are twice as likely to have low numeracy skills as those with an upper secondary education (OECD, 2015[4]).

The percentage of younger adults with below upper secondary education has fallen between 2007 and 2017. Across OECD countries, the share decreased from 20% in 2007 to 15% in 2017. Despite this progress, several countries are still lagging behind and have a high proportion of young adults without upper secondary education. While the share of young adults without upper secondary education is lower than 10% among 25-34 year-olds in Canada, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Israel, Korea, Lithuania, Poland, the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland and the United States, it is 50% or more in China, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia and Mexico. In Korea, only 2% of men and women age 25-34 did not complete upper secondary education, the lowest share across OECD and partner countries for both genders (Table A1.2).

In most countries, there is a higher percentage of young men than young women without an upper secondary qualification. Gender disparities are generally larger in countries where the percentage of young adults without upper secondary education is high. For example, the gender gap is above 5 percentage points in about one-quarter of OECD and partner countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, India, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. With the exception of Estonia and Latvia, in all these countries, the percentage of young adults without upper secondary education is above the OECD average of 15%. In India, Portugal and Spain, the gap is above 10 percentage points, the largest gender gap among OECD and partner countries. One exception is Mexico, where the share of young men and young women without upper secondary education is high but similar (52% for both). Other countries with similar shares for young men and women without upper secondary education are Austria, Chile, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Korea, the Slovak Republic, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (Table A1.2).

Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education

Despite the expansion of tertiary education, upper secondary education is still the most commonly attained level of education among 25-64 year-olds in 17 OECD countries. However, it represents the largest share among 25-34 year-olds in 14 OECD countries. On average across OECD countries, the share of people with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education among 25-34 year-olds is 41%. Across OECD and partner countries, it ranges from as low as 18% in China to as high as 76% in South Africa (Table A1.2 and (OECD, 2018[5])).

Upper secondary education across OECD countries is mainly divided into two types of programmes. Programmes defined as “general” are often designed to prepare students for further education, and those defined as “vocational education and training” (VET) are designed to lead directly to the labour market. Within upper secondary education or post-secondary non-tertiary education, more adults completed vocational programmes than general programmes as their highest educational attainment across countries. On average across OECD countries, 24% of 25-34 year-olds completed a vocational programme and 18% completed a general programme as their highest education level. The lower share for general programmes can be explained by the fact that these programmes are usually designed to prepare students for further education, and those who acquire this qualification often continue to tertiary education. The prevalence of vocational programmes differs across countries. While the share of 25-34 year-olds with vocational programmes is as low as 2% in Costa Rica and Mexico, followed by 3% in Israel, elsewhere it is much more significant: about 50% in Germany and the Slovak Republic (OECD, 2018[5]).

A gender difference is also observed among 25-34 year-olds with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education. Across OECD countries, on average, 46% of young men have this level of education as their highest attainment, while the share is lower among young women (37%). The share of young men with vocationally oriented upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education (28%) as their highest level of education is higher than that of young women (21%), but the share of young men (19%) and young women (17%) who completed general programmes is about the same (Table A1.2 and (OECD, 2018[5])).

Box A1.1. Programme orientation and intergenerational mobility in education

Education is often seen as a tool to level inequalities. But educational attainment often persists from one generation to the next, and it can also perpetuate inequalities. To facilitate social inclusion and improve socio-economic outcomes, now and for future generations, countries need to offer all young people a fair chance to obtain a quality education.

Growing up in a family where the parents have low levels of education often means having less financial support available for continuing studies. This situation is worsened if the education system does not provide support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In the short term, staying in education can involve foregoing earnings from employment. In such cases, those from disadvantaged backgrounds cannot incur the opportunity cost and thus leave education earlier.

To examine these issues, this box draws on data from the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) (see Source section at the end of this indicator), on the educational attainment of the 25-64 year-olds relative to their parents’ educational attainment (see Definitions and Source section at the end of this indicator). These data include the disaggregation by programme orientation (general/vocational) for adults whose highest level of education is upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education, which complements analyses on intergenerational mobility in education published in earlier editions of Education at a Glance (OECD, 2014[6]; OECD, 2015[7]; OECD, 2016[1]; OECD, 2017[8]).

England (United Kingdom), the Flemish Community of Belgium, Italy, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom), Sweden, Turkey and the United States have been excluded from the analysis, because information on the disaggregation between general and vocational orientation is missing for over 10% of 25-64 year-olds with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education (Table A1.a, available on line).

Educational attainment of 25-64 year-olds whose parents have not attained upper secondary education

Figure A1.a shows that, on average across OECD countries and economies that participated in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), 43% of 25-64 year-olds have parents who did not complete upper secondary education. Among those adults, 36% achieved the same low level of educational attainment, meaning that 64% succeeded in completing a higher level of education than their parents. The breakdown of this upward mobility in education is as follows: 14% of 25-64 year-olds whose parents who did not complete upper secondary education attained upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary general education; 30% attained upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary vocational education; and 20% attained tertiary education. This means that, in most countries, upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary vocational education is the prominent programme for upward mobility in education for 25-64 year-olds with parents who did not complete upper secondary education (Figure A1.a and Table A1.b, available on line).

In eight countries, upward mobility to general programmes is higher than upward mobility to vocational programmes, with a statistically significant difference. This is the case for Japan, where 37% of 25-64 year-olds with parents who did not complete upper secondary education attained upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary general education themselves, the largest share among these countries. In contrast, in 15 countries, upward mobility to upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary vocational education is higher than upward mobility to general programmes. The highest shares are observed in the Czech Republic and Poland, where more than 65% of 25-64 year-olds with parents who did not complete upper secondary education are attaining these programmes (Figure A1.a).

Figure A1.a. Educational attainment of 25-64 year-olds whose parents have not attained an upper secondary education (2012 or 2015)

Educational attainment of 25-64 year-olds who have at least one parent who attained tertiary education

The educational attainment distribution of 25-64 year-olds who have at least one parent who attained tertiary education (22% on average) is radically different from that of adults with parents who did not complete upper secondary education. Among adults who have at least one parent who attained tertiary education, only 5% did not complete upper secondary education, 13% attained upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary general education, 16% attained upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary vocational education, and 66% attained tertiary education (Figure A1.b and Table A1.a, available on line).

Most people with at least one tertiary-educated parent achieve at least an upper secondary education, considered to be the minimum threshold for successful labour market entry and continued employability. Children of tertiary-educated parents have higher probabilities of attaining tertiary education and greater opportunities to reach the level of education they aspire to. However, this does not mean that all children of tertiary-educated parents will also attain tertiary education. For instance, in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and Slovenia, at least 35% of 25-64 year-olds with at least one tertiary-educated parent have upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary vocational education as their highest level of education (Figure A1.b). Indicator A3 shows that young adults who attained vocational programmes in these four countries have labour-market outcomes that are similar to or even better than those of tertiary-educated young adults. Therefore attaining upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary vocational education can be a deliberate choice and may not represent a second-chance programme for those who did not attain tertiary education in some countries.

However, in most countries, the share of 25-64 year-olds with upper secondary or post-secondary vocational education is lower among those with highly educated parents than among those with parents who did not complete upper secondary education. In some countries, the difference is very large. In the Slovak Republic, for example, 36% of adults with parents who did not complete upper secondary education attained upper secondary or post-secondary vocational education themselves, while only 8% attained at most this level of education among those with tertiary-educated parents. This shows that, in a large majority of cases, having tertiary-educated parents leads to high educational attainment (Figures A1.a and A1.b).

Figure A1.b. Educational attainment of 25-64 year-olds who have at least one parent who attained tertiary education (2012 or 2015)

Box A1.1 Tables

WEB Table A1.a. Adults' educational attainment, by programme orientation, and their parents' educational attainment (2012 or 2015)

WEB Table A1.b. Adults' educational attainment broken down by programme orientation and parents' educational attainment (2012 or 2015)

Tertiary education

Tertiary education has expanded significantly over recent decades, and people with tertiary education now account for the largest share of 25-34 year-olds in many OECD countries. On average across OECD countries, 36% of adults age 25-64 are tertiary-educated. As a result of the expansion of tertiary education, the share of younger adults (age 25-34) with tertiary education is 44% on average across OECD countries, much higher than the share of 55-64 year-olds (27%) (Tables A1.2, A1.3 and (OECD, 2018[5])).

The proportion of 25-34 year-olds with tertiary education is at least 60% in Canada and Korea. But it is below 15% in India and South Africa, where the dominant share of adults have below upper secondary education (Figure A1.2).

Figure A1.2. Percentage of 25-34 year-olds with tertiary education, by level of tertiary education (2017)

In most OECD and partner countries, those with a bachelor’s or equivalent degree account for the largest share of tertiary-educated 25-34 year-olds. But in some countries, such as Austria and China, those with a short-cycle tertiary degree represent the largest share of tertiary-educated 25-34 year-olds. In the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Spain, those with a master’s or equivalent degree account for the largest share (Figure A1.2).

The expansion of tertiary education has largely been to the advantage of women. Among 55-64 year-olds, there is a perfect gender balance on average across OECD countries, where the share of tertiary-educated 55-64 year-olds is even among both genders (26%). Among the younger generation (age 25-34) a larger share of women than men have a tertiary degree. On average across OECD countries, 50% of women age 25-34 are tertiary-educated, while the proportion is 38% for men. In Korea and Saudi Arabia, the change in the gender composition has been the largest, going from a gap of 16 percentage points in favour of men among 55-64 year-olds to a gap of about 10 percentage points in favour of women among 25-34 year-olds. In Korea, the share of tertiary-educated women rose from 14% among 55-64 year-olds to 75% among 25-34 year-olds, while for men it went from 29% to 65%. This expansion of tertiary education is very large for both genders, but larger for women. In the case of Saudi Arabia, 22% of men are tertiary-educated in the two age groups, while the share of women increased from 5% among 55-64 year-olds to 31% among 25-34 year-olds (Table A1.2 and (OECD, 2018[5])).

Gender balance reverses with higher levels within the tertiary level. Women make up the majority of 25-34 year-olds who attained a bachelor's degree in 30 OECD countries. Among 25-34 year-olds who attained a master's degree, the number of countries where women form the majority rises to 33. Among OECD countries with data on those who attained a doctorate or equivalent degree, women make up more than 50% in only 11 countries.

Educational attainment of native-born and foreign-born adults

The educational attainment levels of native-born and foreign-born adults vary widely across OECD countries. In some countries, the share of adults with tertiary education is higher among native-born adults than among foreign-born adults, while the opposite situation is observed in some other countries. Age at arrival in the country also has different associations across OECD countries. In some countries, the share of adults with tertiary education is higher among those who arrived in the country by age 15, while in other countries the share is higher among those who arrived after age 15. In other words, no clear patterns emerge across OECD countries in tertiary educational attainment among native-born and foreign-born adults.

Figure A1.3. Percentage of tertiary-educated native- and foreign-born 25-64 year-olds, by age at arrival in the country (2017)

The only element that shows some consistency across OECD countries is that the share of tertiary-educated adults among native-born and foreign-born adults tends to follow the overall country pattern. In Canada, for example, the share of tertiary-educated adults is high among native-born adults (53%), and it is even higher among foreign-born adults (67%), regardless of their age at arrival in the country. In Italy, the opposite situation is observed. The share of tertiary-educated adults is generally low, regardless of whether they are native-born (20%) or foreign-born (14%) and regardless of their age at arrival in the country (Figure A1.3).

In Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania and the Slovak Republic, the difference in the share of tertiary-educated people who arrived by the age of 15 and those who arrived later is higher than 15 percentage points (Figure A1.3).

Evidence from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) shows that reading proficiency at age 15 does not vary significantly between those who arrived before age 5 and those who arrived between age 6 and age 11. However, immigrant students who arrived at age 12 or older have lower results than 15-year-old immigrant students in the same grade who arrived before age 12 (OECD, 2015[9]). Students who arrive at a later age can face the increased difficulty of learning a new language and/or a different culture. Moreover, as they have already completed several years of schooling in their home country, it might be challenging to adapt and perform in their new school system.

This may partly explain the differences in the share of tertiary-educated foreign-born adults in Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania and the Slovak Republic between those who arrived by the age of 15 and those who arrived after that. However, in some other countries, the share of tertiary-educated adults is higher among those who arrived at age 16 or older (Figure A1.3). The explanations for these differences can be diverse. For example, as tertiary qualification is obtained after age 16, it is not possible to know if the qualification was obtained in the host country or in the country of origin, and this may vary across countries. The 25-64 age group is also large enough to include different waves of migration, with significant variation in individual characteristics and educational attainment.

Regardless of the age at arrival in the country, it is important for countries to know the general human capital of their foreign-born population. Figure A1.4 shows the diversity in the distribution of educational attainment among the foreign-born population across OECD countries. In Australia and Canada, two countries with about 30% of foreign-born adults, the percentage of tertiary-educated foreign-born adults is among the highest, at over 50%. These two countries also have a large share of tertiary-educated adults: 45% in Australia and 57% in Canada. In addition, these countries have selective migration policies designed to attract highly educated and skilled migrants. In contrast, in Costa Rica (with 11% of foreign-born adults) and Italy (with 14%), around 50% or more of foreign-born adults have not completed upper secondary education. And these two countries have a low share of tertiary-educated adults: 23% in Costa Rica and 19% in Italy (Table A1.3).

Figure A1.4. Educational attainment of foreign-born 25-64 year-olds (2017)

A common characteristic is that, regardless of their educational attainment, foreign-born adults perform lower in literacy than native-born adults. Data from the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) shows that the mean literacy score for migrants was 248 points, compared to 276 points for natives, a gap equivalent to about four years of schooling (OECD/EU, 2015[10]).

Subnational variations in educational attainment levels

On average across OECD countries, about 15% of younger adults (age 25-34) have below upper secondary education as their highest level of educational attainment, but there are significant subnational variations within countries. In 13 of the 19 OECD and partner countries that reported subnational data on educational attainment, the share of 25-34 year-olds with this level of educational attainment in the subnational region with the highest share is over twice as large as in the subnational region with the lowest share. When dividing the highest by the lowest shares within countries, the ratio is above six only in Canada and the Russian Federation, two large countries with many subnational regions. For example, in one region of Canada, 41% of 25-34 year-olds are without an upper secondary education, while in another region the share is only 5%. In contrast, across the OECD and partner countries that reported subnational data, the difference is the smallest in Ireland and Slovenia, two countries with only a few subnational regions: in Ireland, 10% in the region with the highest share and 8% in the region with the lowest share, and in Slovenia, 6% in the region with the highest share and 5% in the region with the lowest share (OECD/NCES, 2018[11]).

In general, less regional variation is observed in the relative share of 25-34 year-olds with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education. Among countries with data, the Russian Federation, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States are the only countries in which the percentage of those with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education in the subnational region with the highest share is more than twice as large as in the subnational region with the lowest share (OECD/NCES, 2018[11]).

As for tertiary education, Brazil, Canada, Germany, the Russian Federation, Turkey and the United States are the countries in which the percentage of 25-34 year-olds with this level of educational attainment is over twice as large in the subnational region with the highest share as in the subnational region with the lowest share. By contrast, Ireland and Slovenia are again the two countries showing the lowest within-country variation (OECD/NCES, 2018[11]).

Definitions

Age groups: Adults refer to 25-64 year-olds; younger adults refer to 25-34 year-olds; and older adults refer to 55-64 year-olds.

Completion of intermediate programmes for educational attainment (ISCED 2011) corresponds to a recognised qualification from an ISCED 2011 level programme that is not considered sufficient for ISCED 2011 level completion and is classified at a lower ISCED 2011 level. In addition, this recognised qualification does not give direct access to an upper ISCED 2011 level programme.

Educational attainment refers to the highest level of education reached by a person.

Levels of education: See the Reader’s Guide at the beginning of this publication for a presentation of all ISCED 2011 levels.

The previous classification, ISCED-97, is used for the analyses based on the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) in Box A1.1. The levels of education are defined as follows: below upper secondary corresponds to levels 0, 1, 2 and 3C short programmes; upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary general corresponds to levels 3A, 3B, 3C long programmes and level 4 that are identified with a general orientation; upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary vocational corresponds to levels 3A, 3B, 3C long programmes and level 4 that are identified with a vocational orientation; and tertiary corresponds to levels 5B, 5A and 6. The variable Area of study (B_Q01b) was used instead of the variable VET to distinguish between general programmes (general programmes and humanities, languages and arts) and vocational programmes (teacher training and education science; social sciences, business and law; science, mathematics and computing; engineering, manufacturing and construction; agriculture and veterinary; health and welfare; and services) at level 4.

Vocational programmes: The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 2011) defines vocational programmes as education programmes that are designed for learners to acquire the knowledge, skills and competencies specific to a particular occupation, trade, or class of occupations or trades. Such programmes may have work-based components (e.g. apprenticeships and dual-system education programmes). Successful completion of such programmes leads to vocational qualifications relevant to the labour market and acknowledged as occupationally oriented by the relevant national authorities and/or the labour market.

Methodology

Educational attainment profiles are based on annual data on the percentage of the adult population (25-64 year-olds) in a specific age group that has successfully completed a specified level of education.

In OECD statistics, recognised qualifications from ISCED 2011 level 3 programmes that are not of sufficient duration for ISCED 2011 level 3 completion are classified at ISCED 2011 level 2 (see the Reader’s Guide). Where countries have been able to demonstrate equivalencies in the labour market value of attainment formally classified as “completion of intermediate upper secondary programmes” (e.g. achieving five good GCSEs or equivalent in the United Kingdom) and “full upper secondary attainment”, attainment of these programmes is reported as ISCED 2011 level 3 completion in the tables that show three aggregate levels of educational attainment (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2012[12]).

Countries have defined general or vocational orientation based on the features of the education programme and the resulting credentials and qualifications. Some countries may also use variables based on students’ choice of field of study and students’ destinations after their studies, because such variables also reflect the distribution of students in general and vocational programmes.

Most OECD countries include people without formal education under the international classification ISCED 2011 level 0. Therefore averages for the category “less than primary educational attainment” are likely to be influenced by this inclusion.

Please see the OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics (OECD, 2018[13]) for more information and Annex 3 for country-specific notes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-36-en).

For the methodology used in Box A1.1, please see the Methodology section in Indicator A7.

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 on population and educational attainment for most countries are taken from OECD and Eurostat databases, which are compiled from National Labour Force Surveys by the OECD LSO (Labour Market, Economic and Social Outcomes of Learning) Network. Data on educational attainment for Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are taken from the International Labour Organization (ILO) database, and data for China are from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) database.

Data on subnational regions for selected indicators are released by the OECD, with the support from the US National Centre for Education Statistics (NCES), and 19 countries have submitted their data for this edition of Indicator A1: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. 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). For the United Kingdom, the subnational regions are based on NUTS 1.

Data used in Box A1.1 are based on the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (the Survey of Adult Skills [PIAAC]).

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.

Note regarding data from the Russian Federation in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)

The sample for the Russian Federation does not include the population of the Moscow municipal area. The data published, therefore, do not represent the entire resident population aged 16-65 in the Russian Federation, but rather the population of the Russian Federation excluding the population residing in the Moscow municipal area. More detailed information regarding the data from the Russian Federation, as well as that of other countries, can be found in the Technical Report of the Survey of Adult Skills, Second Edition (OECD, 2016[14]).

References

[5] OECD (2018), Education at a Glance Database - Educational attainment and labour-force status, http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?datasetcode=EAG_NEAC.

[3] OECD (2018), Immigrants in OECD countries (DIOC) Database - Immigrants by sex and age, http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=DIOC_SEX_AGE (accessed on 16 May 2018).

[13] 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.

[8] OECD (2017), Education at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2017-en.

[2] OECD (2017), International Migration Outlook 2017, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/migr_outlook-2017-en.

[1] OECD (2016), Education at a Glance 2016: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2016-en.

[14] OECD (2016), Technical Report of the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), 2nd Edition, OECD, Paris, http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/PIAAC_Technical_Report_2nd_Edition_Full_Report.pdf.

[7] OECD (2015), Education at a Glance 2015: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2015-en.

[9] OECD (2015), Immigrant Students at School: Easing the Journey towards Integration, OECD Reviews of Migrant Education, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264249509-en.

[4] OECD (2015), “What are the advantages today of having an upper secondary qualification?”, Education Indicators in Focus, No. 34, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5jrw5p4jn426-en.

[6] OECD (2014), Education at a Glance 2014: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2014-en.

[10] OECD/EU (2015), Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2015: Settling In, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264234024-en.

[11] OECD/NCES (2018), Education at a Glance Subnational Supplement,OECD/National Center for Education Statistics, Paris and Washington, DC, https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/annualreports/oecd/index.asp.

[12] UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2012), International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, UNESCO-UIS, Montreal, http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/international-standard-classification-of-education-isced-2011-en.pdf.

Indicator A1 Tables

Table A1.1. Educational attainment of 25-64 year-olds (2017)

Table A1.2. Trends in educational attainment of 25-34 year-olds, by gender (2007 and 2017)

Table A1.3. Educational attainment of native- and foreign-born 25-64 year-olds, by age at arrival in the country (2017)

Cut-off date for the data: 18 July 2018. Any updates on 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.

Featured topics

Agriculture and fisheries

Climate change

Development

Digital

Economy

Education and skills

Employment

Environment

Finance and investment

Governance

Health

Industry, business and entrepreneurship

Regional, rural and urban development

Science, technology and innovation

Society

Taxation

Trade

Energy

Nuclear energy

Transport

Featured topics

Agriculture and fisheries

Climate change

Development

Digital

Economy

Education and skills

Employment

Environment

Finance and investment

Governance

Health

Industry, business and entrepreneurship

Regional, rural and urban development

Science, technology and innovation

Society

Taxation

Trade

Energy

Nuclear energy

Transport

Countries A - C

Countries D - I

Countries J - M

Countries N - R

Countries S - T

Countries U - Z

Regional and global engagement

Countries

Countries A - C

Countries D - I

Countries J - M

Countries N - R

Countries S - T

Countries U - Z

Regional and global engagement

Publications

Publications

Featured publications

Data

Data

Featured data

News & Events

News & Events

Featured Events

About OECD

About

Engage with us

Work with us

Featured topics

Agriculture and fisheries

Climate change

Development

Digital

Economy

Education and skills

Employment

Environment

Finance and investment