Education Policy Outlook 2018

Austria

Context

Austria scored higher than the OECD average in science in PISA 2015, with a mean score of 495 points, compared to the OECD average of 493 points. Performance in science in Austria has declined across PISA cycles, with an average score change of -4.9 score points, while performance in reading and mathematics has stayed the same. Socio‑economic status had higher-than-average impact on science performance in PISA 2015, explaining 15.9% of the variance in performance (OECD average: 12.9%). The impact of ESCS on performance in science has not changed since 2006. Gender differences in science performance were highest in the OECD in Austria, with a difference between boys and girls of 19 points, compared to the average difference across the OECD of 4 points. Immigrant students make up 20.3% of the student population of 15-year-olds in Austria, higher than the OECD average of 12.5%. Performance differences between immigrant and non-immigrant students are higher than the OECD average. Immigrants scored on average 46 score points lower than non-immigrants in science in PISA 2015, compared to the OECD average of 31 score points.

Enrolment of 3-year-olds in ECEC was close to the OECD average in 2015, at 74.9% (OECD average: 77.8%). Pre-primary education (kindergarten) generally begins at age 3 in Austria and is a three-year programme. In 2010, obligatory kindergarten attendance was introduced for 5-year-olds (one year before school entry). Compulsory education in Austria begins at age 6 and ends at age 15, shorter than the typical duration across the OECD. Students are first tracked into different educational pathways at age 10, the earliest age in OECD countries. Students can advance into one of four upper secondary programmes. Each programme lasts between one and five years. There are four upper secondary programmes, including an academic track, as well as three tracks for vocational education. Only students who have completed academic and higher vocational education may advance to university and post-secondary vocational education. Students who have completed intermediate vocational education may apply for further educational courses or post-secondary vocational education.

Austria has one of the highest enrolment rates in VET among OECD countries. VET offers part-time and full-time programmes. Upper secondary students who complete these programmes can either advance to university or choose between courses in education institutions, technical and vocational education or schools for master craftsmen. In the OECD Survey of Adult Skills in 2012 and 2015, adult literacy scores in Austria were close to the OECD average, at 269 points, compared to the OECD average of 268 points. The gap in literacy skills between older adults (age 55-65) and younger adults (age 25-34) was among the highest in the OECD. The proportion of the population aged 25-64 with lower secondary education as the highest level of attainment in Austria is close to the OECD average, with an attainment rate of 14.6% in 2016, compared to the OECD average of 14.3%. NEET rates (the proportion of those aged 18-24 that are neither employed nor in education or training) are lower than the OECD average, at 12.1%, compared to the OECD average of 15.3%. The share of the population aged 25-34 with a tertiary-level qualification is lower than the OECD average in 2016 (39.7%, compared to the OECD average of 43.1%). Employment rates for 25-34 year-olds with tertiary education are among the highest in the OECD. In 2016, 87.7% were employed, while the OECD average rate was 82.9%.

Figure 7.2. Selected indicators compared with the average: Austria

Note: For each indicator, the absolute performance is standardised (normalised) using a normative score ranging from 0 to 220, where 100 was set at the average, taking into account all OECD countries with available data in each case.

Sources: OECD (2016), PISA 2015 Results (Volume I): Excellence and Equity in Education, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264266490-en; OECD (2016), Skills Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264258051-en; OECD (2017), Education at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2017-en.

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Evolution of key education policy priorities

Table 7.2. Evolution of key education policy priorities, Austria (2008-17)

Identified by	Equity and quality	Preparing students for the future
Selected OECD country-based work, 2008-171	The OECD identified a need to reduce performance and attainment gaps due to socio-economic status. Early streaming was found to increase inequalities within the educational system, such as a larger gender gap (due to major differences in professional specialisation) and earnings gap. Austria has one of the largest population groups with immigrant origin among OECD countries, but education and labour market outcomes of some of these groups are weaker than those of native Austrians. [2015]	The OECD found indications of skills mismatch in the Austrian labour market. VET programmes are developed to respond to student preferences, rather than to demand from the labour market. But as training provision is largely funded from public funds, it should reflect the wider interests of society, including labour market actors as well as students. The apprenticeship system should be strengthened through more employer engagement, and the school-to-work transition must be facilitated. [2010; 2013; 2015]
Evolution of responses to EPO Surveys, 2013 and 2016‑17	Austria had previously reported a need to increase the participation of children from disadvantaged backgrounds in pre-primary education and to reduce the achievement gap between students from disadvantaged or immigrant backgrounds and their peers. In 2017, these challenges remain. [2013; 2017]	As reported by Austria, challenges remain in decreasing early dropout rates, improving the transition to higher levels of education (e.g. from VET to tertiary education) and widening the access to universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen). As of 2017, decreasing early dropout and improving transitions continue to be challenges. [2013; 2017]

1. See Annex A, Table A A.3 for the list of OECD publications consulted for this snapshot.

Selected education policy responses

Austria is in the process of comprehensively reforming its education system, through the framework of the 2015 education reform plan. In 2015, representatives of the federal government and the provinces presented a proposal for education reform in Austria. Based on the work of an expert commission, it included a roadmap for implementation. The first reform package, entitled School Entry and Primary School (Schulrechtsänderungsgesetz), was adopted in 2016. To improve the transition between ECEC and primary school and strengthen students’ competencies, it will unify the last year of kindergarten and the first two years of primary school into a single school-entry phase. This change aims to allow for easier early identification of learning difficulties, as well as an exchange of teachers between kindergarten and primary schools. To maximise integration of students, especially those with an immigrant background or who have recently arrived in the country, the package also promotes measures to foster the learning of German, starting in kindergarten.

• Progress or impact: The School Entry and Primary School package was implemented nationwide in 2016/17. A further package of reforms, related to school autonomy and simplifying school administration (Bildungsreformgesetz) was implemented in 2017. Further measures to be legislated as part of the 2015 reform include an innovation package to provide broadband to schools, establishment of a foundation to support innovative projects in schools, and piloting of an “education compass” to monitor the development of 3-year-olds.

Austria implemented a new lower secondary school model, the New Secondary School (Neue Mittelschule, NMS) in 2007/08 to provide students with basic, comprehensive education. The NMS did not replace lower secondary academic education; it continues to be provided as a separate track. NMS students are not grouped by ability in core subjects in the first years (Years 5 and 6). After that, de facto streaming takes place through a differentiated grading system for students in Years 7 and 8, based on student ability. The new model features innovative teaching methods, including team teaching in some mathematics, English and German lessons, with teachers from general higher secondary schools (Allgemeinbildende Höhere Schule, AHS), and aims to have curriculum and educational goals closer in content to the AHS. The total amount of investment for the introduction of the NMS is estimated at between EUR 164 million and EUR 250 million per year. The additional funding is intended to introduce new pedagogical methods, such as team teaching, to better respond to the needs of the heterogeneous population targeted by the NMS.

• Progress or impact: The new schools now cover over 60% of all students transferring from primary school. By the start of the 2015/16 school year, they had completely replaced general secondary schools for new entrants, with complete replacement expected by 2018/19. According to the summative evaluation of the NMS pilot in 2015, the introduction of the NMS has had mixed results. Compared to general secondary schools, the new schools appeared to provide slightly more positive learning environments overall and higher levels of student support. However, the report also found deficiencies in the implementation process, with interpretations of the model varying between schools. At the time of the report, students’ overall levels of achievement had not yet improved in the NMS. Given the recent rollout of the system, further research and a full evaluation of NMS will be required to fully assess its impact (OECD, 2017a).

Additional education policies of potential interest to other countries

• The government is investing heavily in expanding all-day schooling, aiming to have 40% of schoolchildren attending all-day schooling by 2025. These expanded offerings include morning and afternoon courses and aim to make it easier for people to combine family responsibilities and work, especially for women. All-day schooling can be integrated by the school or offered by external providers.

• The federal government provides language support courses for non-German speakers, additional support to non-German-speaking students during the first two years of school and specialised language support staff in schools. In addition, targeted support for refugees, in the form of beginner language groups and/or language support classes, was introduced in 2016/17.

• Starting in 2017, the Apprenticeship until 18 programme (AusBildung bis 18) requires all students under age 18 to engage in education or training after completion of compulsory education. In addition, a New Upper Level Scheme (2012), in place in all schools from 2017/18, has a competence-based syllabus to better prepare students for higher education, as well as more frequent assessments to detect learning deficits at an earlier stage and reduce school dropout.

• In 2016, the Austrian National Council (Nationalrat) adopted a Federal Act on the National Qualifications Framework (Bundesgesetz über den Nationalen Qualifikationsrahmen) to classify qualifications, promote transparency and international comparability, and encourage lifelong learning.

More information available at: www.oecd.org/education/policyoutlook.htm.