International
Statistics comparing countries with very different education systems can be difficult to interpret in a reliable way. But some institutions do try to provide comparative figures and these are used, for example, to compare education spending levels in different countries, or different levels of achievement.
Until recently the Government’s annual Education and Training Statistics for the UK included in Chapter 4 International Comparisons lists making various useful comparisons, for example public expenditure as a percentage of GDP; annual expenditure per student; pupil teacher ratios; participation and percentage of population per age group with upper secondary education. These figures show some interesting comparisons. For example, the UK's spending on education representing 5.3% of the GDP in 2004 was slightly below the OECD average and average spending on pre-primary and primary education was over the OECD average but secondary spending was below.
The recent statistical volume refers readers to the OECD’s Education at a Glance.
The DCSF website Trends section also has information in trends on spending with international comparisons:
Trends and international comparisons
- In 2005, according to OECD definitions, public expenditure on education in the UK represented 11.9 per cent of total public expenditure, up from 11.7 per cent in 2004 but below the OECD average of 13.2 per cent.
- Among the reporting OECD countries in 2005, the proportion of public expenditure spent on education ranged from 23.4 per cent in Mexico to 9.3 per cent in Italy.
- The UK rate was higher than that of France (10.6 per cent) and Germany (9.7 per cent), but below that of the USA (13.7 per cent), Ireland (14.0 per cent) and all the Scandinavian countries.
OECD publications
The best source of information on how the UK system of education compares with that of other countries is Education at a Glance published each year by the OECD. It compares participation, achievement, spending, lifelong learning and conditions for pupils and teachers and trends in international comparisons.
Education at a Glance 2009: OECD Indicators
The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is produced regularly and compares achievement across the OECD. A description of the programme is at:
PISA – The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PDF file)
PISA produces several reports each year:
The latest comparison on achievement was published in December 2007:
Teaching across the OECD is compared by the OECD TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Survey)
A research review published by the DCSF in July 2008 was carried out by McKinsey to compare high performing education systems with that of England:
Excellence and Equity: Making England's Schools System World Class (PDF file)
There are several useful websites for comparison. EURYDICE, the education information network in Europe, produces comparable information on national education systems and policies and produces studies and analyses. EURYDICE also has its own database, EURYBASE.
The UNESCO website has a wide range of comparative statistics:
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
MPs are interested in the numbers of international students studying in the UK, a useful source of funding for UK universities.
Parliamentary Answer: Foreign Postgraduate Students
Other questions have focused on the achievement of the Millennium Goals:
Parliamentary Answer: Developing Countries, Primary Education
November 2009