United Kingdom Education Stats
Author: chris.lockyer781
The United Kingdom has a well structured education system and boasts a 99% literacy rate among both men and women. The education system is divided into four distinct sections or stages. These are primary, secondary, further and higher education. Students in the UK legally attend school between ages 5 and 16, which is primary to secondary years. Further and higher education occur thereafter.
These are further broken down into Key Stages 1 – 5. Primary education consists of Key Stages 1 and 2 while secondary education is made up of Key Stages 4 and 5. Further education is referred to as Key Stage 5 and incorporates community colleges and the sixth form or grades 12 and 13.
Students are formally assessed at the end of each Key Stage. However, the most important assessment is the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) which occurs at the end of secondary school.
Examinations or qualifications which can be gained in Further Education are A-Levels, GNVQs, BTECs.
The final stage is higher education. Some 50% of students in the UK usually matriculate into higher education or universities.
Definitions
- Average years of schooling of adults: Average years of schooling of adults is the years of formal schooling received, on average, by adults over age 15. (Data Source: Barro-Lee Data Set www.worldbank.org/html/prdmg/grthweb/ddbarle2.htm)
- Children out of school, primary: Children out of school, primary. Out-of-school children of primary school age. Total is the total number of primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in either primary or secondary schools.
- Children out of school, primary per 1000: Children out of school, primary. Out-of-school children of primary school age. Total is the total number of primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in either primary or secondary schools. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
- Children out of school, primary, female: Children out of school, primary, female. Out-of-school children of primary school age. Female is the total number of female primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in either primary or secondary schools.
- College and university > Gender parity index: Country's gender parity index for college and university enrollment. For countries with a rating of over 1, more females are enrolled while countries with a rating under 1 have more males enrolled.
- College and university > Share of total education spending: Percentage of government education funding that goes to post-secondary education.
- Compulsary education duration: Number of years students are required to be enrolled in school for all levels of education. For instance, compulsary education lasts for 12 years in the United States.
- Government spending on education > Proportion of GDP: Percentage of public funding for education out of country's total GDP.
- Homeschooling legal status: Legal status of homeschooling.
- Literacy > Total population: This entry includes a definition of literacy and Census Bureau percentages for the total population, males, and females. There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise specified, all rates are based on the most common definition - the ability to read and write at a specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of our source. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons.
- Primary education, duration > Years: Primary education, duration (years). Duration of primary is the number of grades (years) in primary education.
- Primary education, teachers per 1000: Primary education, teachers. Teaching staff in primary. Public and private. Full and part-time. All programmes. Total is the total number of teachers in public and private primary education institutions. Teachers are persons employed full time or part time in an official capacity to guide and direct the learning experience of pupils and students, irrespective of their qualifications or the delivery mechanism, i.e. face-to-face and/or at a distance. This definition excludes educational personnel who have no active teaching duties (e.g. headmasters, headmistresses or principals who do not teach) and persons who work occasionally or in a voluntary capacity in educational institutions. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
- Pupil-teacher ratio, primary: Pupil-teacher ratio, primary. Pupil-teacher ratio. Primary is the number of pupils enrolled in primary school divided by the number of primary school teachers.
- Pupil-teacher ratio, secondary: Pupil-teacher ratio, secondary. Pupil-teacher ratio. Secondary is the number of pupils enrolled in secondary school divided by the number of secondary school teachers.
- Secondary education, duration > Years: Secondary education, duration (years). Duration of secondary education is the number of grades (years) in secondary education (ISCED 2 & 3).
SOURCES: UNESCO; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Population figures from World Bank: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; United Nations Statistics Division. Source tables; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Source tables; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Source tables; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Source tables; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeschooling_international_status_and_statistics; CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Population figures from World Bank: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.
Citation
United Kingdom Education Profiles (Subcategories)
- United Kingdom ranked first for scientific and technical journal articles amongst Europe in 2003.
- United Kingdom ranked first for duration of education > primary level amongst European Union in 2002.
- United Kingdom ranked first for primary education, duration > years amongst Group of 7 countries (G7) in 2012.
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The United Kingdom has a well structured education system and boasts a 99% literacy rate among both men and women. The education system is divided into four distinct sections or stages. These are primary, secondary, further and higher education. Students in the UK legally attend school between ages 5 and 16, which is primary to secondary years. Further and higher education occur thereafter.
These are further broken down into Key Stages 1 – 5. Primary education consists of Key Stages 1 and 2 while secondary education is made up of Key Stages 4 and 5. Further education is referred to as Key Stage 5 and incorporates community colleges and the sixth form or grades 12 and 13.
Students are formally assessed at the end of each Key Stage. However, the most important assessment is the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) which occurs at the end of secondary school.
Examinations or qualifications which can be gained in Further Education are A-Levels, GNVQs, BTECs.
The final stage is higher education. Some 50% of students in the UK usually matriculate into higher education or universities.
Posted on 28 Mar 2014
chris.lockyer781
396 Stat enthusiast
