Title page 1

Contents 7

Editorial 4

Acknowledgements 6

Readers Guide 11

Executive Summary 19

Chapter 1. Teacher shortages and the attractiveness of the teaching profession 22

Part A. The output of educational institutions and the impact of learning 71

Chapter A1. To what level have adults studied? 72

Chapter A2. Transition from education to work: Where are today's youth? 89

Chapter A3. How does educational attainment affect participation in the labour market? 106

Chapter A4. What are the earnings advantages to education? 126

Chapter A5. To what extent do adults participate in education and training? 146

Chapter A6. How are social outcomes related to education? 162

Part B. Access to education, participation and progression 180

Chapter B1. How has participation in early childhood education and care evolved across age groups and countries? 181

Chapter B2. How is school provision organised across education levels? 205

Chapter B3. How do students transition into upper secondary education and what are their outcomes afterwards? 229

Chapter B4. What is the profile of international students and how is mobility evolving? 262

Part C. Financial resources invested in education 285

Chapter C1. Key system-level indicators of education finance 286

Chapter C2. How is early childhood education financed? 306

Chapter C3. How are primary and lower secondary education financed? 318

Chapter C4. How is upper secondary education financed? 333

Chapter C5. How is tertiary education financed? 347

Part D. Teachers, the learning environment and organisation of schools 363

Chapter D2. How do student-teacher ratios and class sizes vary across education levels? 365

Chapter D3. How much are teachers and school heads paid? 384

Chapter D4. How much time do teachers spend teaching and working? 413

Chapter D5. What are the main characteristics of the teaching workforce across levels of education? 433

Chapter D6. What school evaluation mechanisms are in place? 457

Chapter D7. What teacher and school head appraisal systems are in place? 481

Annex 1. Characteristics of education systems 512

Annex 2. Reference statistics 515

Contributors to this publication 548

Table 1. Trends in the share of non-fully qualified teachers, by level of education (2017/18 and 2024/25) 58

Table 2. Trends in the share of unfilled teaching vacancies (2017/18 and 2024/25) and share of successful teaching candidates (2024/25) 60

Table 3. Share of fully qualified teachers who left the profession, by level of education (2024/25) and trends in teacher resignations (2017/18 and 2024/25) 62

Table 4. Trends in the share of teachers aged under 35 or 55 and over, by level of education (2015 and 2024), and comparison with the wider workforce (2024) 64

Table 5. Employment conditions of lower secondary teachers and job satisfaction (2024) 66

Table 6. Comparing teachers' job satisfaction, work pressure, workload and participation in and unmet demand for professional development with... 68

Table 7. Changes in the number of teachers, classrooms and student enrolment between 2015 and 2024, and projected changes in the number of... 69

Table A1.1. Educational attainment of adults (2025) 83

Table A1.2. Trends in the educational attainment of 25-34 year-olds, by gender (2015 and 2025) 85

Table A1.3. Educational attainment, by programme orientation and age group (2025) 87

Table A2.1. Share of young adults in education/not in education, by age group and labour-force status (2025) 101

Table A2.2. Trends in the share of 18-24 year-olds in education/not in education, by work status and gender (2015 and 2025) 103

Table A2.3. Distribution of 18-29 year-olds by education and labour-force status, by literacy proficiency level (2023) 105

Table A3.1. Employment rates of adults, by educational attainment and programme orientation (2025) 119

Table A3.2. Trends in employment rates of 25-34 year-olds, by educational attainment and gender (2015 and 2025) 121

Table A3.3. Trends in unemployment rates and shares of 25-34 year-olds outside the labour force, by educational attainment and gender (2015 and 2025) 123

Table A4.1. Relative earnings of workers compared to those with upper secondary attainment, by educational attainment and age group (2024) 140

Table A4.2. Distribution of workers by educational attainment and level of earnings relative to the median (2024) 142

Table A4.3. Women's earnings as a percentage of men's earnings, by educational attainment and age group (2024) 144

Table A5.1.a. Aligned skill domains 156

Table A5.1. Share of adults participating in non-formal education or training, by reference period, educational attainment, recency of... 159

Table A5.2. Share of adults participating in non-formal education or training, by labour force status and age group (2023) 160

Table A5.3. Share of adults reporting having never participated in non-formal education or training, by educational attainment and gender (2023) 161

Table A6.1. Share of employed adults reporting high or very high flexibility of working hours in their main job, by numeracy proficiency level,... 173

Table A6.2. Indicators of work-life balance among employed adults, by educational attainment (2023) 174

Table A6.3. Prevalence of work-life balance difficulties, by educational attainment (2024) 177

Table B1.1. Trends in enrolment rates of children under 3, by type of provision (2015 and 2024) 199

Table B1.2. Enrolment rates of children over 2, by age and type of provision (2024) 201

Table B1.3. Duration of parental leave (2025) and trends in starting ages for legal ECEC entitlement and compulsory education (2015 and 2024) 203

Table B2.1. Trends in the number of institutions and students, and average institution size (students per grade), by level of education (2015 and 2024) 221

Table B2.2. Trends in the ratio of primary schools to lower secondary schools, by type of institution (2015 and 2024) 225

Table B2.3. School sizes, by education level and percentile, and ratio of primary schools to lower secondary schools, by type of institution (2024) 227

Table B3.1. Distribution of students in the year after the last grade of lower secondary education (2024) 253

Table B3.2. Share of upper secondary students completing their studies within the theoretical duration, by gender and programme orientation at graduation (2024) 255

Table B3.3. Distribution of upper secondary students by outcome and timeframe (2022-2024) 257

Table B3.4. Distribution of upper secondary graduates in the year after their graduation, by gender (2023) 260

Table B4.1. Trends in the profile of international new entrants, by tertiary education level (2015 and 2024) 276

Table B4.2. Distribution of national and international tertiary graduates, by field of education (2024) 278

Table B4.3. Trends in inbound and outbound internationally mobile tertiary students (2015 and 2024) 280

Table B4.4. Top five origins and destinations for inbound and outbound international students (2015 and 2024) 282

Table C1.1. Expenditure on educational institutions per full-time equivalent student (2023) 298

Table C1.2. Distribution of expenditure within educational institutions (2023) 300

Table C1.3. Trends in expenditure on staff compensation per full-time equivalent student (2015 and 2023) 302

Table C1.4. Expenditure on educational institutions as a percentage of GDP (2023) 304

Table C2.1. Expenditure on early childhood education per child (2023) 312

Table C2.2. Distribution of expenditure within public early childhood educational institutions (2023) 314

Table C2.3. Trends in expenditure on early childhood education per child (2015 and 2023) 316

Table C3.1. Expenditure on primary and lower secondary educational institutions per full-time equivalent student (2023) 327

Table C3.2. Distribution of expenditure within public primary and lower secondary educational institutions (2023) 329

Table C3.3. Trends in expenditure in primary and lower secondary educational institutions on staff compensation per full-time equivalent student (2015 and 2023) 331

Table C4.1. Expenditure on upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary educational institutions per full-time equivalent student (2023) 341

Table C4.2. Distribution of expenditure within public upper secondary educational institutions (2023) 343

Table C4.3. Trends in expenditure in upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary educational institutions on staff compensation (2015 and 2023) 345

Table C5.1. Expenditure on tertiary educational institutions per full-time equivalent student (2023) 357

Table C5.2. Distribution of expenditure within public tertiary educational institutions (2023) 359

Table C5.3. Trends in expenditure in tertiary educational institutions on staff compensation per full-time equivalent student (2015 to 2023) 361

Table D2.1. Ratio of children to staff in early childhood education (ECE), by level of education and type of institution (2024) 378

Table D2.2. Trends in the ratio of students to teaching staff, by level of education (2015 and 2024) 380

Table D2.3. Trends in average class size in primary and lower secondary education, by type of institution (2015 and 2024) 382

Table D3.1. Teachers' statutory salaries, based on the most prevalent qualifications at different points in teachers' careers (2025) 404

Table D3.2. Teachers' and school heads' actual salaries relative to earnings of tertiary-educated workers (2025) 407

Table D3.3. Teachers' and school heads' average actual salaries (2025) 411

Table D4.1. Organisation of teachers' teaching time (2025) 428

Table D4.2. Organisation of teachers' working time (2025) 431

Table D5.1. Trends in the share of women among classroom teachers, by level of education (2015 and 2024) 449

Table D5.2. Trends in the share of women among school management personnel, by level of education (2015 and 2024) 451

Table D5.3. Trends in the average working-time intensity of teachers, by level of education and gender (2015 and 2024) 453

Table D5.4. Minimum educational attainment required for teachers and share of teachers who meet the minimum national attainment requirements,... 455

Table D6.1. Organisation of school inspections and school self-evaluations (2025) 471

Table D6.2. Areas addressed in school inspections and self-evaluations (2025) 473

Table D6.3. Influence of school inspections and self-evaluations on school management (2025) 475

Table D6.4. Domains addressed in school compliance reports, by type of institution (2025) 479

Table D7.1. Types of teacher and school head appraisals (2025) 498

Table D7.2. Eligibility for and circumstances of teacher appraisals (2025) 500

Table D7.3. Aspects appraised and use of results from teacher appraisals (2025) 502

Table D7.4. Use of teacher appraisals and their influence on various decisions (2025) 504

Table D7.5. Eligibility for and circumstances of school head appraisals (2025) 508

Table D7.6. Aspects appraised and use of results from school head appraisals (2025) 510

Boxes 29

Box 1. Comparing teacher vacancy rates across countries: Methodological considerations 29

Box 2. Teacher shortages by subject and territory 31

Box 3. Teacher absenteeism, replacement difficulties and lost instructional time 34

Box A2.1. Supporting NEET youth: Integrated approaches to re-engagement 94

Box A3.1. Employment and work intensity 109

Box A3.2. Occupational outcomes of education 111

Box A4.3. Skills that matter for success and well-being in adulthood 129

Box A4.4. A multidimensional view of skills domains 134

Box A5.1. Employer and employee perspectives on skills needs 149

Box A5.2. Activity limitations due to health problems and participation in adult learning 154

Box B1.1. Interactive visualisations of the structure of ECEC programmes 188

Box B1.2. Unmet demand in early childhood education and care centres 190

Box B2.1. The decline in the number of 10-14 year-olds across OECD small regions 209

Box B2.2. Student exposure to rising temperatures 215

Box B3.1. Interactive visualisations on upper secondary education pathways: from entry to post-completion 232

Box B3.2. Inequalities in upper secondary completion 239

Box B3.3. Trends in upper secondary completion rates 244

Box B4.1. International student mobility: From expansion strategies to regulated growth 270

Box C3.1. Pension schemes and implications for data on staff compensation 323

Box C5.1. Types of educational institutions 350

Box D3.1. Subnational variations in teachers' and school heads' salaries at pre-primary, primary and secondary levels 388

Box D3.2. Financial compensation for mentoring and participation rates 394

Box D3.3. Comparability issues with relative salaries of teachers 397

Box D4.1. Teaching hours at the subnational level (2025) 416

Box D4.2. Teaching hours: Interpretation and comparability issues 417

Box D4.3. Teachers' workload and stress: Insights from TALIS 2024 421

Box D4.4. Part-time teachers: Insights from TALIS 2024 424

Box D5.1. Minimum attainment requirements in pre-primary education 441

Box D6.1. Overview of the existence and uses of evaluations of schools, teachers and school heads 459

Box D6.2. Consequences of underperformance for schools 463

Box D6.3. Summative and formative purposes of school evaluations 465

Box D7.1. Appraisal and autonomy of teachers: Insights from TALIS 2024 484

Box D7.2. Non-regulated appraisal practices for teachers and school heads 485

Box D7.3. Consequences of underperformance for teachers and school heads 489

Box D7.4. Summative and formative purposes of appraisals of teachers and school heads 494

Table X1.1. School year and financial year used for the calculation of indicators, OECD countries 513

Table X1.2. School year and financial year used for the calculation of indicators, partner and accession countries 514

Table X2.1. Basic reference statistics in current prices (reference period: calendar year, 2015, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024) 516

Table X2.2. Basic reference statistics (reference period: calendar year, 2015, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024) 518

Table X2.3. Pre-primary and primary teachers' statutory salaries, in national currencies, based on the most prevalent qualifications... 520

Table X2.4. Secondary teachers' statutory salaries, in national currencies, based on the most prevalent qualifications at different points... 522

Table X2.5. Trends in teachers' statutory starting salaries, in national currencies (2000 and 2005 to 2025) 524

Table X2.6. Trends in teachers' statutory salaries after 15 years of experience, in national currencies (2000 and 2005 to 2025) 528

Table X2.7. Trends in teachers' average actual salaries, in national currencies (2000, 2005 and 2010 to 2025) 532

Table X2.8. Distribution of school heads aged 25-64, by educational attainment and level of education (2025) 536

Table X2.9. Distribution of teachers, by minimum or most prevalent qualifications and level of education (2025) 538

Table X2.10. Distribution of teachers aged 25-64, by educational attainment and level of education (2025) 542

Table X2.11. Distribution of school heads aged 25-64, by educational attainment and level of education (2025) 545