Annex 1. Characteristics of education systems
Table X1.1 Typical graduation ages, by level of education (2021)
The range of typical ages is the range encompassing at least 50% of the share of graduation rates.
1. Year of reference differs from 2021: 2020 for Argentina and South Africa; 2018 for Indonesia.
Table X1.2 Typical age of entry, by level of education (2021)
The range of typical ages is the range encompassing at least 50% of the share of entry rates.
Table X1.3. School year and financial year used for the calculation of indicators, OECD countries
Table X1.4. School year and financial year used for the calculation of indicators, partner countries and accession countries
Table X1.5. Starting and ending age of students in compulsory education, theoretical starting age and duration of education levels, and ages of entitlement to early childhood education and care (2021)
The theoretical ages refer to the age of the students at the beginning of the school year except for the ending age of compulsory education which corresponds to the age at which compulsory schooling ends. For example, an ending age of 18 indicates that all students under 18 are legally obliged to participate in education. Since the theoretical ages indicated refer to the beginning of the school year, students may be older than the theoretical ending age at the end of the academic year.
1. In 2015, the Basic Education Act was revised and the participation of 6-year-olds in pre-primary education became mandatory. However, this is not encompassed by the Compulsory Education Act, which stipulates that compulsory education usually begins in the year when children turn 7 years old.
2. As of September 2020, 16-18 year-old students are required to train by several means: schooling, apprenticeships, training courses, civic service, and support or social and professional integration measures.
3. Year of reference differs from 2021: 2020 for Argentina and South Africa; 2018 for Indonesia.
4: From the school year 2020-2021, education is compulsory from last grade of pre-primay education to the last two grades of upper secondary education (e.g. grades 11 and 12).
See Definitions and Methodology sections and (OECD, 2023[1]), Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes, https://doi.org/10.1787/d7f76adc-en, for more information.
Data and more breakdowns are available at http://stats.oecd.org/, Education at a Glance Database.
Please refer to the Reader's Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations.
Reference
[1] OECD (2023), Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/d7f76adc-en.