The Education at a Glance 2024 report provides a comprehensive overview of education systems worldwide, focusing on equity in education and its relationship with labour market outcomes. The report contains indicators on the human and financial resources invested in education, how education and learning systems operate, and the returns on investment in education. This edition emphasizes disparities within education systems, particularly related to early childhood education, teacher shortages, and the transition from education to the workforce.
Key findings include a significant improvement in educational attainment and employment outcomes for young adults, with a decrease in the share of 18-24 year-olds not in employment, education, or training (NEETs) from 16% to 14% since 2016. However, learning outcomes have not improved equally, and there is concern about the persistence of low performance among 15-year-olds in areas like mathematics, reading, and science. Gender disparities remain pronounced, with women outperforming men in education but still facing challenges in the labour market, including lower employment rates and earnings.
The report also explores the impact of socio-economic background on education, noting that children from lower-income families are less likely to be enrolled in early childhood education and are at a disadvantage throughout their academic journey. The OECD highlights the need for continued investment in education, particularly in early childhood, and the importance of addressing teacher shortages to promote equity and quality in education systems.
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Table of Contents
- Foreword 5
- Editorial 8
- Levelling the educational playing field for high quality and lifelong learning opportunities 8
- Reader’s guide 10
- The organising framework 10
- Actors in education systems 10
- Indicator groups 11
- Contextual factors that influence policy 11
- The structure and content of Education at a Glance 11
- Sustainable Development Goal 4 12
- The theme of equity in Education at a Glance 2024 13
- Statistical coverage 13
- Comparability over time 13
- Country coverage 14
- Note on subnational regions 14
- Note on terminology: “partner countries” and “other participants” 14
- Calculation of international means 14
- Classification of levels of education 16
- Fields of education and training 17
- Standard error (S.E.) 17
- Symbols for missing data and abbreviations 17
- Further resources 18
- Layout of tables 18
- Abbreviations used in this report 18
- References 20
- Executive summary 21
- Educational attainment and labour-market outcomes have improved for the lowest performing groups 21
- Girls outperform boys in education, but women remain disadvantaged in the labour market 21
- Educational outcomes are strongly influenced by family background 22
- Early childhood education helps to give all children a fair start into education 22
- Teacher shortages can aggravate inequalities 22
- SDG. Equity in the Education Sustainable Development Goal 24
- Analysis 26
- Equity in school participation 26
- Gender differences in participation according to SDG 4 Indicators 26
- Participation in organised learning (one year before the official primary entry age) 26
- Participation in technical and vocational programmes (15-24 year-olds) 26
- Gross enrolment ratio for tertiary education 26
- Out-of-school rate 27
- Percentage of children over-age for grade 28
- Equity in school outcomes 31
- Differences in performance in mathematics 31
- Differences in information and communications technology skills by gender 33
- Differences in software usage by gender and locality 34
- Definitions 35
- Methodology 36
- Source 36
- References 37
- Chapter SDG Tables 39
- Part A. The output of educational institutions and the impact of learning 44
- Part A. The output of educational institutions and the impact of learning 44
- Chapter A1. To what level have adults studied? 45
- Analysis 47
- Below upper secondary attainment 47
- Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment 48
- Tertiary attainment 48
- Immigration background and educational attainment 50
- Variations in educational attainment by subnational regions 55
- Definitions 58
- Methodology 58
- Source 58
- References 59
- Chapter A1 Tables 61
- Chapter A2. Transition from education to work: Where are today’s youth? 66
- Analysis 68
- Educational and labour-market status of 18-24 year-olds 68
- Transition from education to work among foreign- and native-born 15-29 years-olds 70
- Definitions 72
- Methodology 72
- Source 72
- References 72
- Chapter A2 Tables 75
- Chapter A3. How does educational attainment affect participation in the labour market? 80
- Analysis 82
- Educational attainment and employment rates 82
- Gender differences in employment rates 83
- Subnational variations in employment rates 83
- Employment rates by migration status 84
- Educational attainment and unemployment rates 87
- Educational attainment and labour-market inactivity rates 88
- Definitions 89
- Methodology 90
- Source 90
- References 90
- Chapter A3 Tables 92
- Chapter A4. What are the earnings advantages to education? 99
- Analysis 101
- Relative earnings compared to workers with upper secondary attainment 101
- Gender disparities in earnings, by educational attainment and age group, and over time 102
- Distribution of earnings among workers, by educational attainment 107
- Differences in earnings between native-born and foreign-born workers, by educational attainment 109
- Definitions 111
- Methodology 112
- Source 113
- References 114
- Chapter A4 Tables 115
- Chapter A5. To what extent do adults participate in education and training? 123
- Analysis 125
- Participation in education and training over time 125
- Reasons preventing adults from participating in education and training 126
- Profile of adults who see no need for education and training 128
- Definitions 130
- Methodology 130
- Source 131
- References 131
- Chapter A5 Tables 132
- Chapter A6. How are social outcomes related to education? 137
- Analysis 139
- The 4As Framework 139
- Environmental awareness 139
- Environmental acknowledgment 140
- Environmental attitudes 141
- Environmental actions 142
- Definitions 147
- Methodology 148
- Source 149
- References 149
- Chapter A6 Tables 150
- Part B. Access to education, participation and progression 155
- Part B. Access toeducation, participationand progression 155
- Chapter B1. How does participation in early childhood education and care differ among countries? 156
- Analysis 158
- Enrolment of children the year before they start primary education 158
- Differences in the structure of ECEC systems 159
- Enrolment of children aged 3 and below 159
- Policy approaches to increasing enrolment 160
- Trends in enrolment of children under the age of 3 161
- Enrolment of children aged 3 to 5 164
- Expansion of compulsory education to include pre-primary education 165
- Regional variations in the enrolment of 3 to 5 year-olds 166
- Enrolment of children by type of institution 170
- Definitions 172
- Methodology 173
- Enrolment rates 173
- Source 173
- References 174
- Chapter B1 Tables 178
- Chapter B2. What are the main characteristics of primary and lower secondary education? 184
- Analysis 186
- Compulsory education 186
- The impact of compulsory education policies on educational equity 186
- Extension policies in compulsory education 187
- Enrolment of students aged 6 to 14 187
- Regional variations in the enrolment of 6 to 14 year-olds 189
- Enrolment in primary and lower secondary education by type of institution 190
- School choice in primary and lower secondary education 191
- Grade repetition in primary and lower secondary level 192
- Definitions 196
- Methodology 196
- Enrolment rates 196
- Annual growth rate 197
- Source 197
- References 197
- Chapter B2 Tables 200
- Chapter B3. What are the key features of general and vocational upper secondary education? 206
- Analysis 208
- Participation of 15-19 year-olds in education 208
- At national level 208
- At subnational level 209
- Participation by type of institution 212
- Share of repeaters 214
- Participation of adults in upper secondary education 215
- Graduation in upper secondary and post-secondary education, by gender 217
- Definitions 221
- Methodology 221
- Source 221
- References 222
- Chapter B3 Tables 224
- Chapter B4. What are the differences in access and outcomes of tertiary education? 230
- Analysis 232
- Equity in tertiary education 232
- Share of new entrants by gender 232
- Distribution of new entrants by gender and field 232
- Policies to achieve gender equity in tertiary education 232
- Enrolment and graduation in public and private tertiary institutions 236
- Trade-offs of choosing between public and private institutions 237
- International mobility 238
- Trends in the number of mobile students 238
- Mobile students across fields of education 239
- Policies to attract international or foreign students. 239
- Definitions 240
- Methodology 241
- International mobility 241
- Source 241
- References 241
- Chapter B4 Tables 244
- Part C. Financial resources invested in education 250
- Part C. Financial resourcesinvested in education 250
- Introduction 251
- The framework for comparative indicators on educational expenditure 251
- Accounting principle 252
- Chapter C1. How much is spent per student on educational institutions? 254
- Analysis 256
- Overall expenditure per student on educational institutions 256
- Expenditure per student on educational institutions by level of education 256
- Expenditure per student on different types of services 258
- Trends in expenditure on education and student population 260
- Subnational variations in expenditure per student in primary and secondary education 261
- PISA performance and expenditure on education 262
- Definitions 263
- Methodology 264
- Source 264
- References 265
- Chapter C1 Tables 267
- Chapter C2. What proportion of national output is spent on educational institutions? 274
- Analysis 276
- Expenditure relative to GDP 276
- Expenditure by level of education 276
- Changes in total expenditure relative to GDP 277
- Expenditure from government and private sources relative to GDP 278
- Expenditure by level of education 278
- Changes in government expenditure relative to GDP 278
- Definitions 279
- Methodology 280
- Source 281
- References 281
- Chapter C2 Tables 282
- Chapter C3. How much public and private investment in educational institutions is there? 287
- Analysis 289
- Government and private sources of expenditure on primary educational institutions 289
- Expenditure per student in private versus public institutions 289
- Funding arrangements and size of the private sector 289
- The balance of government and private sources across levels of education 290
- Government transfers to households 292
- Trends in sources of expenditure in tertiary education 293
- Definitions 294
- Methodology 295
- Source 296
- References 296
- Chapter C3 Tables 297
- Chapter C4. What is the total government spending on education? 304
- Analysis 306
- The role of different levels of government 306
- Distribution of final expenditure on primary education 306
- The role of inter-government transfers in funding 306
- Education in the context of competing pressures on government resources 307
- Trends in the share of government expenditure dedicated to education 307
- Education expenditure in the wider context of government spending 309
- Definitions 310
- Methodology 311
- Source 311
- References 312
- Chapter C4 Tables 313
- Chapter C5. How much do tertiary students pay and what public support do they receive? 318
- Analysis 320
- Differentiation of annual tuition fees for full-time study 320
- Differentiation by level of study 320
- Differentiation by type of institution 321
- Differentiation between national and foreign students 321
- Variations within countries for degrees awarded at the same level 322
- Trends in tuition fees and student enrolment in tertiary education over the last decade 323
- Public financial support to tertiary national students 324
- Different approaches to financial support 324
- Relationships between the forms of public support offered and the tuition fees charged 326
- Definitions 331
- Methodology 332
- Source 332
- References 332
- Chapter C5 Tables 333
- Chapter C6. On what resources and services is education funding spent? 338
- Analysis 340
- Capital vs. current expenditure 340
- Types of current expenditure 340
- Staff compensation per student 341
- Resource shortages and student performance 343
- Definitions 345
- Methodology 345
- Source 346
- References 346
- Chapter C6 Tables 347
- Part D. Teachers, the learning environment and the organisation of school 351
- Part D. Teachers, thelearning environment andthe organisation of school 351
- Chapter D2. What is the student-teacher ratio and how large are classes and schools? 352
- Analysis 354
- Staffing of early childhood education 354
- Staff working with young children 354
- Child-staff ratio and child-teacher ratio 355
- Trends in child-teacher ratios 355
- Staffing of primary and lower secondary education 355
- Staffing of higher levels of education 358
- Class size 358
- Average class size by level of education 358
- Class size by type of institution 359
- Definitions 366
- Methodology 366
- Source 367
- References 367
- Chapter D2 Tables 370
- Chapter D3 How much are teachers and school heads paid? 376
- Analysis 378
- Teachers’ salaries 378
- Statutory salaries 378
- Actual salaries 381
- Teacher salaries relative to other tertiary-educated workers 382
- Salary trends for teachers since 2015 385
- Trends in statutory salaries 385
- Trends in actual salaries 386
- School heads’ salaries 387
- Statutory salaries 387
- Actual salaries 389
- Base salaries and additional payments: Incentives and allowances 390
- Definitions 393
- Methodology 393
- Source 394
- References 394
- Chapter D3 Tables 396
- Chapter D4. How much time do teachers spend teaching and working? 401
- Analysis 403
- Teaching time of teachers 403
- Differences in teaching time by level of education 404
- Actual teaching time 406
- Working time of teachers 407
- Non-teaching time 408
- Non-teaching tasks and responsibilities 410
- Definitions 414
- Methodology 415
- Source 415
- References 415
- Chapter D4 Tables 416
- Chapter D5. Who are the teachers, and where do countries stand in terms of teacher shortages? 420
- Analysis 422
- Pathways to becoming a fully qualified teacher in secondary education 422
- Qualification level 422
- Selection process 423
- Assignment of teachers to schools 423
- Start in the teaching profession 424
- Teaching workforce 424
- Teachers by age 424
- Young teachers 425
- Older teachers 426
- Teachers by gender 426
- Teachers by type of contracts 428
- Teacher shortages 429
- Shortage of fully qualified teachers in secondary education 429
- Teachers leaving the profession 432
- Definitions 434
- Methodology 435
- Source 435
- References 435
- Chapter D5 Tables 437
- Chapter D6 How are the views of parents and students formally represented in the education system? 446
- Analysis 448
- Participation of parents and students in governing boards 448
- Existence of governing boards 448
- Governing board participation requirements 449
- Participation requirements for parents 449
- Participation requirements for students 450
- Participation of parents and students in advisory bodies 450
- Advisory bodies for parents 451
- Advisory bodies for students 453
- Impact and policy relevance 453
- Areas of impact 454
- Participation in decisions and student development 454
- Formal processes and mechanisms available to file complaints or appeal decisions 456
- Channels and mechanisms 456
- Areas of decision making that can be appealed 456
- Definitions 457
- Methodology 457
- Source 457
- References 458
- Chapter D6 Tables 459
- Annexes 463
- Annexes 463
- Annex 1. Characteristics of education systems 464
- Annex 1 Tables 465
- Annex 2. Reference statistics 472
- Annex X2 Tables 473
- Contributors to this publication 489
- INES Working Party 489
- LSO Network 493
- NESLI Network 495
- Other contributors to this publication 497
