Education at a Glance 2024

Executive summary

Education at a Glance is the definitive guide to the state of education around the world. It analyses all levels of education and provides data on topics such as attainment, enrolment, finance and the organisation of education systems. The 2024 edition focuses on equity in education. Readers interested in a summary of the findings on this topic are referred to the accompanying Spotlight on Equity.

Educational attainment and labour-market outcomes have improved for the lowest performing groups

Educational and labour-market outcomes for young adults at risk of falling behind have improved. Since 2016, the share of 18-24 year-olds not in employment, education or training has fallen from 16% to 14% on average across the OECD. At the same time, the share of 25-34 year-olds without an upper secondary qualification has decreased from 17% to 14%. Job opportunities have also improved: the employment rate among 25-34 year-olds without an upper secondary qualification has risen from 59% to 61%, and for those with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment, it has increased from 76% to 79%.

These positive trends are driven by 18-24 year-olds staying in education longer and a robust labour market. However, they do not indicate better learning outcomes. The proportion of low-performing 15-year-olds in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has remained unchanged or increased since 2012 in most countries. Moreover, the skills acquired by young adults often do not match labour market needs. To sustain positive employment trends during weaker labour markets, it is essential to ensure that improved educational attainment is grounded in better learning outcomes. This includes strong foundational skills that facilitate lifelong learning and relevant employability skills that support individuals in their careers.

Girls outperform boys in education, but women remain disadvantaged in the labour market

Girls and women outperform boys and men in education by most available measures. They tend to have higher test scores in standardised assessments and are 28% less likely to repeat a grade at primary and lower secondary levels. At upper secondary and tertiary levels, they are more likely to successfully complete their programmes in all countries for which data are available, with gender gaps often exceeding 10 percentage points. Women are also more likely to enter tertiary education than men, and the proportion of women aged 25-34 with a tertiary qualification is significantly higher (54% of young women compared to 41% of young men across the OECD).

However, despite their high educational attainment, women continue to be disadvantaged in the labour market. Young women are less likely to be employed, and the gap is particularly large for those who have not completed upper secondary education. At 47%, the employment rate of women aged 25-34 without an upper secondary qualification is 25 percentage points lower than their male counterparts. Among young women with a tertiary qualification, 84% are employed, which is 6 percentage points below the employment rate for similarly qualified men. Young women also earn less than young men, with average earnings 15% lower for those lacking an upper secondary qualification and 17% lower for those with a tertiary qualification.

Educational outcomes are strongly influenced by family background

Educational outcomes are transmitted across generations. Inequalities start early and persist through all stages of the education system. In countries with available data, children from low-income families are on average 18 percentage points less likely to be enrolled in early childhood education and care before the age of 3. In primary and secondary education, students from less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds perform worse in standardised assessments such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and PISA. Students who start an upper secondary programme are 19 percentage points less likely to successfully complete their studies if their parents have not attained upper secondary education than their peers with parents who have a tertiary qualification, and this gap is 13 percentage points for those starting a bachelor’s programmes. These disadvantages result in very different levels of educational attainment. While 72% of adults who have at least one parent with a tertiary qualification have also obtained a tertiary qualification, only 19% of those whose parents have not completed upper secondary education have tertiary attainment.

Early childhood education helps to give all children a fair start into education

Early childhood education is an important tool for reducing the impact of family background on educational opportunities, as it helps to close developmental gaps between children before they enter primary school. To ensure that all children attend pre-primary education, 10 out of 38 OECD countries have lowered the starting age of compulsory education within the last decade to include some or all pre-primary education, and it is now compulsory in 19 OECD countries. Moreover, governments are prioritising early childhood education in their budgets. Public expenditure on early childhood education measured as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 9% between 2015 and 2021, significantly more than for other levels of education. Enrolment rates in early childhood education have also continued to rise across all age groups. On average across the OECD, 83% of children aged 3-5 are enrolled in pre-primary education, up from 79% in 2013.

The gap between the end of paid parental leave and the start of free education, during which time parents have to pay for early childhood education, is particularly important for the enrolment of children from low-income families. Seven OECD countries offer free childcare or pre-primary education that starts immediately after the end of paid parental leave, while in eight OECD countries there is a gap of five years or more between the end of paid parental leave and the start of free education. Moreover, even if early childhood education is nominally free of charge, private expenditure on it remains high in many countries, putting children from poorer families at a disadvantage. This is due to a number of factors, such as the limited availability of places in publicly funded institutions or a limited number of hours offered free of charge, which parents often have to supplement privately.

Teacher shortages can aggravate inequalities

Recruiting well-qualified teachers to replace those who retire or resign is a challenge in most countries. At the start of the 2022/23 academic year, 18 out of 21 countries for which data are available faced teacher shortages and had been unable to fill all their vacant teaching posts.

Schools are not equally affected by teacher shortages. In order to attract more teachers to the most affected schools, about one-third of countries with available data offer allowances to teachers who teach in remote schools and about one in ten countries offer allowances for teaching in socio-economically disadvantaged ones. However, financial incentives alone are not enough to attract motivated candidates. Other measures are equally important, including sufficient professional support and strong public recognition of the efforts of teachers who teach in disadvantaged schools.