This spread shows the levels of combined public and private spending on education. In debates about learning, demand for high-quality education, which may mean spending more per student, is often tempered by the desire not to raise taxes. While it is difficult to determine the level of spending needed to prepare a student for work and life, international comparisons can provide reference points for comparisons of education resources.

This spread looks at whether spending on education has risen or fallen in recent years. Policy makers are under constant pressure to find ways of improving the quality of educational services while expanding access to educational opportunities, notably at tertiary level. Over time, spending on educational institutions does indeed tend to rise, in large part because teachers’ salaries rise in line with general earnings. However, if the cost of schooling each student is not accompanied by improvements in educational outcomes, it raises the spectre of falling productivity levels.

This spread shows the proportion of a nation’s wealth that is invested in education. In other words, it shows to what extent a country, which includes the government, private enterprise and individual students and their families, prioritises education in relation to overall spending.

Public spending on education, as a percentage of total public spending, indicates the importance placed on education relative to that of other areas of public spending, such as health care, social security and national security. Since the second half of the 1990s, most OECD countries have sought to consolidate public budgets, and education has had to compete with a wide range of other areas for public financial support. This spread evaluates the change in spending on education both in absolute terms and relative to changes in the size of public budgets.

This spread shows how the financing of educational institutions is shared between public and private entities, particularly at tertiary level. Public funding provides a very large part of investment in education, but the role of private sources has become more important. Some stakeholders are concerned that this balance should not become so tilted that it discourages some potential students from attending tertiary education. Thus, it is important to look at changes in public/private funding shares to determine if they are influencing patterns and levels of student participation.

This spread examines the relationships between annual tuition fees, direct and indirect public spending on education, and public subsidies for student living costs. Governments can address issues of access to and equality of education opportunities by subsidising tuition fees and financially aiding students and their families, particularly students from low-income families. But how this aid is given – whether through grants, scholarships or loans – is a subject for debate in many countries.

This spread shows how OECD countries spend their funds for education, including the split between capital expenditure, which is one-off spending on things like school buildings, and current expenditure, which is recurring spending on things like teacher salaries. How spending is apportioned, both between current and capital outlays and within these categories, can affect the quality of services, the condition of facilities, and the ability of education systems to adjust to changing demographic and enrolment trends.

The relationship between resources devoted to education and outcomes has been the focus of much interest in recent years, as governments seek to ensure value for money in public spending while satisfying the education needs of society and the economy. Indeed, various reforms have been implemented during the last decade in primary and secondary education which have had important impacts in this area (see Box B7.2 in Education at a Glance 2010). Consequently, there is considerable interest in international comparisons of how various school systems allocate resources. This spread examines these questions from the perspective of salary cost per student – a calculation based on four factors: hours students spend in the classroom, teachers’ teaching hours, estimated class size and teachers’ salaries. Salary cost per student is calculated for each country and then compared with the OECD average.