In OECD countries, compulsory education typically begins with primary education, starting at the age of 6 (see Table X1.5 in Annex 1). However, in about one-third of OECD and partner countries, compulsory education begins earlier, while in Estonia, Finland, Indonesia, Lithuania, the Russian Federation and South Africa, compulsory education does not begin until the age of 7. Compulsory education usually ends with the completion or partial completion of upper secondary education at the age of 16 on average across OECD countries, ranging from 13 (Indonesia) or 14 (Korea) to 18 ( Belgium, Chile, Germany and Portugal). In Slovenia, compulsory education ends at age 14 with the completion of the primary and lower secondary education integrated programme. In the Netherlands, there is partial compulsory education (i.e. students must attend some form of education for at least two days a week) from the age of 16 until they are 18 or until they have completed a diploma. However, high enrolment rates extend beyond the end of compulsory education in a number of countries. On average across OECD countries, full enrolment (the age range when at least 90% of the population is enrolled in education) lasts 14 years, from the age of 4 to the age of 17. The period of full enrolment lasts between 11 and 16 years in most countries and reaches 17 years in Norway. It is shorter in Colombia, Mexico, the Slovak Republic and Turkey, and in partner countries such as Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa ().

There is a growing consensus among OECD countries of the importance of high-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC). However, the type of ECEC services available to children and parents in OECD countries differ greatly. There are variations in the targeted age groups, the governance of centres, the funding of services, the type of delivery (full‑day versus part-day attendance) and the location of provision, whether in centres or schools, or at home (OECD, 2017[1]).

An upper secondary qualification is often considered to be the minimum credential for successful entry into the labour market and necessary for continuing to further education. Young people who leave school before completing upper secondary education tend to face challenges in the labour market, including worse employment prospects (see Indicator A4). At upper secondary level, students face decisions on their programme orientation and field of study. However, men and women make very different choices, which influences their options for higher education and their expected labour-market outcomes. The socio‑economic background of students may also influence their choice of upper secondary programme as well as the completion of this level (). Understanding these choices and their implications is central to ensuring inclusive educational opportunities and defining policies that address inequalities.

If current entry patterns continue, it is estimated that 51% of young adults (excluding international students) will enter tertiary education for the first time before the age of 25 on average across OECD countries. However, first-time entry rates into tertiary education can vary significantly across countries depending on specific contextual elements relating to entry requirements or student flows, the availability of programmes and their prevalence within the educational landscape. For example, Chile and Turkey have some of the highest first-time tertiary entry rates among OECD countries, inflated by a high rate of entry into short-cycle tertiary and bachelor programmes. In contrast, Luxembourg reports the lowest first-time tertiary entry rates among OECD countries, due to the very high share of national tertiary students enrolled abroad (see Indicator B6).

Over the past two decades, tertiary education in OECD countries has changed significantly. The student body is more international, more women than men are graduating and choices of fields of study have evolved. These changes might reflect concerns about competitiveness in the global economy and the labour market, but also the interests and priorities of a growing student population.

Many factors at the individual, institutional, national and global levels drive patterns of international student mobility. These include personal ambitions and aspirations for better employment prospects, a lack of high-quality higher educational institutions at home, the capacity of higher education institutions abroad to attract talent, and government policies to encourage cross-border mobility for education (Bhandari, Robles and Farrugia, 2020[2]). The needs of increasingly knowledge-based and innovation-driven economies have spurred demand for tertiary education worldwide, while rising wealth in emerging economies has prompted the children of the growing middle classes to seek educational opportunities abroad. At the same time, economic (e.g. costs of international flights), technological (e.g. the spread of the Internet and social media enabling contacts to be maintained across borders) and cultural factors (e.g. use of English as a common working and teaching language) have contributed to making international study substantially more affordable and easier to access than in the past.