OECD publishes Education at a Glance 2025, comparing international education systems.
This month (September 2025), the OECD published its latest annual Education at a Glance report which draws international comparisons across OECD countries and partner countries in areas such as the impact of learning, access and participation in education, performance, structure, and financing of their education systems.
This annual report is designed to help governments ‘as they develop policies to enhance individuals’ social and economic prospects, provide incentives for greater efficiency in schooling, and help to mobilise resources to meet rising demands’. The report is also part of the OECD’s efforts towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all – with statistics from the report being a measure of progress towards SDG4 and its targets. 1
The report is structured into four main parts:
- Part A – The output of educational institutions and the impact of learning
- Part B – Access to education, participation and progression
- Part C – Financial resources invested in education
- Part D – Teachers, the learning environment and organisation of schools
What are the key findings?
Here are some of the key findings from the report:
Attainment
- Educational attainment is higher than ever – 48% of young adults hold a tertiary (post school education e.g. college, university etc.) qualification across OECD countries.
- Gaps in educational attainment persist – children from disadvantaged backgrounds are far less likely to reach higher levels of education, in all countries.
- Only 26% of young adults whose parents didn’t complete upper secondary education hold a tertiary qualification, compared to 70% of young adults with at least one parent with a tertiary education.
- Denmark has increased tertiary attainment by 20 percentage points since 2012 for students whose parents didn’t complete upper secondary education.
- England and the Flemish Community of Belgium also saw progress in reducing the tertiary attainment gap.
Social mobility
- Adults with a tertiary qualification earn 54% more than those with upper secondary education, on average.
- The average benefit of obtaining a tertiary qualification exceeds 300,000 USD (even after taking into accounts the cost of tertiary education).
- People with a masters or doctoral qualification earn 83% more than those with upper secondary attainment, on average.
Bachelor’s education completion rates
- Only 43% of new entrants to bachelor programmes graduate within the expected duration for the qualification (this increases to 59% after an additional year, 70% after an additional three years).
- Just 63% of male students complete a bachelor’s degree within three years beyond the expected date, compared to 75% of female students.
Literacy and numerary skills gap
- Literacy and numeracy skills of adults in most OECD countries declined or stagnated between 2012 and 2023.
- A significant proportion of adults in OECD countries have low skills in literacy and numeracy.
- Among adults without an upper secondary education, 61% scored Level 1 or below in Literacy (meaning at most they can understand short texts on a familiar topic).
- For adults with an upper secondary education, 30% do not exceed Level 1 and for those with tertiary education, 13% of adults score at Level 1 or below.
Teacher shortages
- On average 7% of secondary teachers across the OECD are not fully qualified.
- In 2022/2023 Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Flemish and French communities in Belgium reported more than 2% of teaching positions were unfilled.
- 1-3% of teachers retire annually.
- In Denmark, Estonia and England, nearly 10% of teachers resign annually whereas in France, Greece and Ireland this is fewer than 1%.
- 16 out of 28 countries offer dedicated alternative pathways for second-career teachers. 1
The report is pretty comprehensive, so you can read it here.
Reference
- OECD (2025) ‘Education at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators’. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2025/09/education-at-a-glance-2025_c58fc9ae/1c0d9c79-en.pdf (Accessed: 24 September 2025)
