Virtually everyone in OECD countries has access to at least 13 years of formal education, and the average 5-year old can expect to complete more than 17 years of education by the time they are 40.

Based on current patterns of graduation, it is estimated that an average of 84% of today’s young people in OECD countries will complete upper secondary education over their lifetimes. For G20 countries, the level is 78%.

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On average 39% of young people are expected to complete university level education in 27 OECD countries with comparable data.

On average across OECD countries, 16% of 15-29 year-olds are neither employed, nor in education or training (NEET); this proportion increased substantially in 2009 and 2010 compared with pre-crisis levels.

More than 4.1 million tertiary-level students were enrolled outside their country of citizenship in 2010.

In general, people with higher levels of education have better job prospects; the difference is particularly marked between those who have attained upper secondary education and those who have not.

Rewards are typically higher for individuals who attain tertiary education than those with upper secondary education or post-secondary non-tertiary education.

As with returns to individuals, the benefits to the public purse are higher when people complete tertiary rather than upper secondary education.

Adults with higher levels of educational attainment are more likely to live longer, show higher levels of civic engagement and exhibit greater satisfaction with life.

More than half of the GDP growth in OECD countries over the past decade is related to labour income growth among tertiary-educated individuals.

Expenditure by educational institutions per student at primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary levels increased by more than 36% on average between 2000 and 2009, a period when enrolment levels remained generally static.

OECD countries spend 6.2% of their GDP on educational institutions, on average.

Public funding of education is a social priority, accounting for 13% of total public spending, on average in OECD countries.

Public funding accounts for 84% of all funds for educational institutions, on average in OECD countries.

University students pay more than USD 1 500 in tuition fees for public institutions in their own country in a third of OECD countries; they pay nothing in eight countries.

Current expenditure accounts for an average of more than 90% of total spending on education, all levels of education combined except pre-primary.

Salary cost of teacher per student varies significantly between countries. In 2010, the salary cost of teacher per student varied by a ratio of 1 to 14 or 15, depending on the education level.

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Salaries for teachers with at least 15 years of experience average USD 35 630 at the pre-primary level, USD 37 603 at the primary level, USD 39 401 at the lower secondary level and USD 41 182 at the upper secondary level.

The number of teaching hours per teacher in public schools averages 782 hours per year in primary education, 704 hours in lower secondary education and 658 hours in upper secondary education.

About 58% of primary teachers and 63% of secondary teachers are at least 40 years old, on average in OECD countries.

Fifteen-year-olds who attended pre-primary education tend to perform better at school.

National examinations are more prevalent at the upper secondary level than at the primary level. Twenty-three countries have national examinations at the upper secondary level.

Women have higher tertiary attainment rates on average across OECD countries, but their employment rates are much lower than those of men.

More than 40% of adults participate in formal and/or non-formal education in a given year across OECD countries.

Only one in five students from families with low levels of education attains a tertiary degree. On average across OECD countries, 66% of students with at least one parent with tertiary education graduate from tertiary education.

In many countries, the level of reading performance of immigrant students is lower than that of non-immigrant students.

In almost all countries, girls have more ambitious professional aspirations than boys.

Although a lack of data still limits the scope of the indicators in many countries, the coverage extends, in principle, to the entire national education system (within the national territory) regardless of the ownership or sponsorship of the institutions concerned and regardless of education delivery mechanisms. With one exception described below, all types of students and all age groups are meant to be included: children (including students with special needs), adults, nationals, foreigners, as well as students in open distance learning, in special education programmes or in educational programmes organised by ministries other than the Ministry of Education, provided the main aim of the programme is the educational development of the individual. However, vocational and technical training in the workplace, with the exception of combined school and work-based programmes that are explicitly deemed to be parts of the education system, is not included in the basic education expenditure and enrolment data.