The Uruguayan education system is highly centralised, both in terms of distribution of responsibilities across levels of governance and in terms of space and geography. Almost all of the decisions about administrative and pedagogical aspects are taken at the central level. In contrast to OECD countries, the main responsibility for formulating and implementing policies in school education does not lie with the Ministry of Education and Culture but rather with the autonomous National Public Education Administration (ANEP). In addition, pre-tertiary education is co-administered with teachers as they elect representatives to the governing bodies of ANEP. The large majority of children attend public education. Curricula are defined at the central level. The level of educational attainment in Uruguay remains modest and has increased slowly over the past decades. Universal access has been reached in primary education while access to pre-primary has expanded considerably. However, completion rates in lower and upper secondary education remain unsatisfactory while repetition rates are very high in international comparison. Levels of student achievement have decreased in recent years but remain above the regional average. Finally, students’ and schools’ socio-economic status have a strong impact on student performance.