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• Education at a Glance

Education at a Glance 2023

United kingdom, oecd indicators.

Education at a Glance is the authoritative source for information on the state of education around the world. It provides data on the structure, finances and performance of education systems across OECD countries and a number of accession and partner countries. More than 100 charts and tables in this publication – as well as links to much more available on the educational database – provide key information on the output of educational institutions; the impact of learning across countries; access, participation and progression in education; the financial resources invested in education; and teachers, the learning environment and the organisation of schools.

The 2023 edition includes a focus on vocational education and training (VET), examining participation in VET and the structure of VET programmes. This edition also includes a new chapter - Ensuring continued learning for Ukrainian refugees - which presents the results of an OECD 2023 survey that collected data on measures taken by OECD countries to integrate Ukrainian refugees into their education systems.

English Also available in: German , French

• Spotlight on Vocational Education and Training
• Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes
• https://doi.org/10.1787/e13bef63-en
• Click to access:
• Click to access in HTML WEB
• Click to download PDF - 10.21MB PDF
• Click to download EPUB - 52.08MB ePUB

This country note provides an overview of the key characteristics of the education system in the United Kingdom. It draws on data from Education at a Glance 2023. In line with the thematic focus of this year’s Education at a Glance, it emphasises vocational education and training (VET), while also covering other parts of the education system. Data in this note are provided for the latest available year. Readers interested in the reference years for the data are referred to the corresponding tables in Education at a Glance 2023.

• Click to download PDF - 1.27MB PDF

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Author(s) OECD

12 Sept 2023

The UK education system preserves inequality – new report

• Imran Tahir

Published on 13 September 2022

Our new comprehensive study, shows that education in the UK is not tackling inequality.

• Education and skills
• Poverty, inequality and social mobility
• Social mobility

Link to read article 

The Conversation

Your education has a huge effect on your life chances. As well as being likely to lead to better wages, higher levels of education are linked with better health, wealth and  even happiness . It should be a way for children from deprived backgrounds to escape poverty.

However, our new  comprehensive study , published as part of the Institute for Fiscal Studies  Deaton Review of Inequalities , shows that education in the UK is not tackling inequality. Instead, children from poorer backgrounds do worse throughout the education system.

The report assesses existing evidence using a range of different datasets. These include national statistics published by the Department for Education on all English pupils, as well as a detailed longitudinal sample of young people from across the UK. It shows there are pervasive and entrenched inequalities in educational attainment.

Unequal success

Children from disadvantaged households tend to do worse at school. This may not be a surprising fact, but our study illustrates the magnitude of this disadvantage gap. The graph below shows that children who are eligible for free school meals (which corresponds to roughly the 15% poorest pupils) in England do significantly worse at every stage of school.

Even at the age of five, there are significant differences in achievement at school. Only 57% of children who are eligible for free school meals are assessed as having a good level of development in meeting early learning goals, compared with 74% of children from better off households. These inequalities persist through primary school, into secondary school and beyond.

Differences in educational attainment aren’t a  new phenomenon . What’s striking, though, is how the size of the disadvantage gap has remained constant over a long period of time. The graph below shows the percentage of students in England reaching key GCSE benchmarks by their eligibility for free school meals from the mid-2000s.

Over the past 15 years, the size of the gap in GCSE attainment between children from rich and poor households has barely changed. Although the total share of pupils achieving these GCSE benchmarks has increased over time, children from better-off families have been 27%-28% more likely to meet these benchmarks throughout the period.

Household income

While eligibility for free school meals is one way of analysing socio-economic inequalities, it doesn’t capture the full distribution of household income. Another way is to group young people according to their family income. The graph below shows young people grouped by decile. This means that young people are ordered based on their family’s income at age 14 and placed into ten equal groups.

The graph shows the percentage of young people in the UK obtaining five good GCSEs, and the share obtaining at least one A or A* grade at GCSE, by the decile of their family income. With every increase in their family’s wealth, children are more likely to do better at school.

More than 70% of children from the richest tenth of families earn five good GCSEs, compared with fewer than 30% in the poorest households. While just over 10% of young people in middle-earning families (and fewer than 5% of those in the poorest families) earned at least one A or A* grade at GCSE, over a third of pupils from the richest tenth of families received at least one top grade.

Inequalities into adulthood

The gaps between poor and rich children during the school years translate into huge differences in their qualifications as adults. This graph shows educational attainment ten years after GCSEs (at the age of 26) for a group of students who took their GCSE exams in 2006.

The four bars show the distribution of qualifications at age 26 separately for the entire group, people who grew up in the poorest fifth of households, those who grew up in the richest fifth of households, and those who attended private schools.

There is a strong relationship between family background and eventual educational attainment. More than half of children who grew up in the most deprived households hold qualifications of up to GCSE level or below. On the other hand, almost half of those from the richest households have graduated from university.

The gap between private school students and the most disadvantaged is even more stark. Over 70% of private school students are university graduates by the age of 26, compared with less than 20% of children from the poorest fifth of households.

Young people from better-off families do better at all levels of the education system. They start out ahead and they end up being more qualified as adults. Instead of being an engine for social mobility, the UK’s education system allows inequalities at home to turn into differences in school achievement. This means that all too often, today’s education inequalities become tomorrow’s income inequalities.

Research Economist

Imran joined the IFS in 2019 and works in the Education and Skills sector.

Comment details

Suggested citation.

Tahir, I. (2022). The UK education system preserves inequality – new report [Comment] The Conversation. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/articles/uk-education-system-preserves-inequality-new-report (accessed: 21 August 2024).

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Home / Publications & Research / Benchmarking English Education / Education: the fundamentals – Eleven facts about the education system in England

Education: the fundamentals – Eleven facts about the education system in England

A major new report on education in England is published today by UK 2040 Options, led by Nesta, and The Education Policy Institute.

The report combines data, analysis and insights from over 75 education experts on the education challenges facing the next government and possible solutions to improve outcomes.

The report shows that:

• All sectors of the education system are facing a workforce crisis. In schools, only 69% of those who qualified 5 years ago are still teaching, and 15% of that cohort left in their first year. 
• The pupil population in England is set to decline significantly due to low birth rates. The state school population currently stands at 7.93 million children, and this will fall by around 800,000 by 2032. 
• The number of pupils with  an education, health and care plan for more complex  special educational needs and disabilities has increased by around 50% in just five years – but funding has not caught up with the level of need and is based (in part) on historic data.
• Only 5% of primary schools reached the Government’s target of 90% of pupils reaching the expected standard in key stage 2 reading, writing and mathematics in 2019.
• Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds experience an attainment gap (relative to their more affluent peers) equivalent to 19 months of learning by the time they sit their GCSEs. Two fifths of this gap has appeared by the age of 5. 
• Absence from education is now one of the most pressing issues facing England’s education system – persistent absence (missing more than 10% of sessions) has increased from 13% to 24%.
• Closing the gap between skill supply and employer demand could increase national productivity by 5% – 42% of vacancies in manufacturing and 52% in construction are due to skill shortages.

The report, which follows UK 2040 Options publications on  inequality and wealth ,  economic growth ,  health  and  tax , also includes evidence of progress. England recently came fourth in the world for primary school reading proficiency and well above average in maths and science in Years 5 and 9.

But the report also reveals a system that is struggling. Thousands of children start school each year without basic skills, the disadvantage gap is growing, and education at every level is experiencing a chronic recruitment and retention challenge.

Over 75 subject experts from across a range of sectors took part in the project. There was wide agreement about the need to grapple seriously with the workforce crisis across all parts of the system, and the group put forward suggestions for how this could be achieved while continuing to improve the quality of education provision. 

More broadly the group proposed policies to:

• Support the growing number of children  with special education needs and disabilities and rebuild parents’ trust in the system;
• Address challenges inside and outside the school gates to improve educational outcomes, including lifting families out of poverty and increasing targeted funding for disadvantaged pupils;
• Make the skills system more equitable, higher quality and tailored to the needs of the economy. 

Alex Burns, Director of UK 2040 Options, said:   “Education has been less prominent than other areas in recent policy debate – we feel a long way away from “education, education, education”. But if we are to be serious about improving people’s lives and boosting the economy we will need to make sure that the education system is thriving. Whilst there are clear areas of progress, this report demonstrates the scale of the challenge for the future in areas like workforce, the disadvantage gap and support for children with special educational needs.” 

Jon Andrews, Head of Analysis at the Education Policy Institute, said:  “ Whatever the outcome of the next election, it is clear there is much to do to get education back on track following a hugely disruptive pandemic and a decade dominated by funding cuts. A focus on the early years, greater funding that is targeted at the areas in need of it the most, and a plan to ease the recruitment and retention challenges facing schools must form cornerstones of any new government’s education strategy.”

You can read the report in full here.

About UK 2040 Options

UK 2040 Options is a policy project led by Nesta that seeks to address the defining issues facing the country, from tax and economic growth to health and education. It draws on a range of experts to assess the policy landscape, explore some of the most fertile areas in more depth, test and interrogate ideas and bring fresh angles and insights to the choices that policymakers will need to confront, make and implement.

About Nesta

We are Nesta . The UK’s innovation agency for social good. We design, test and scale new solutions to society’s biggest problems, changing millions of lives for the better.  This report was produced in partnership with Nesta, as part of UK 2040 Options.

Jon Andrews

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The mental health crisis in British schools

by Jonathan Glazzard, The Conversation

NHS statistics suggest that 20.3%—1 in 5—children and young people aged from eight to 16 years in England had a probable mental disorder in 2023. This a huge rise from 2017, when 12.5% had a probable mental health disorder.

Data from social mobility charity The Sutton Trust shows that the prevalence of mental ill-health is higher for girls than boys. Girls are more likely to experience psychological distress and self-harm and are at a greater likelihood of attempting suicide.

And research from charity Just Like Us highlights that young people who are LGBTQ+ are more likely to develop mental ill health . The risk is even greater for Black LGBTQ+ young people, 89% of whom have contemplated suicide.

According to a recently released report from The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Youth Mental Health , there is substantial evidence across the world that youth mental health has substantially deteriorated. Key factors outlined by the report include social media , concerns about climate change, food, housing and employment insecurity and intergenerational poverty.

This decline in youth mental health puts severe strain on schools, which play a central role in identifying mental health issues in children , providing help and offering advice to families.

Under pressure

The 2023 annual report from education regulator Ofsted highlights some of the key challenges schools are facing.

Schools are using part-time timetables for children who are absent from school due to their mental health and are waiting for a clinical assessment. Many children are experiencing delays in accessing specialist mental health services. Children are not getting help in a timely way and the severity of needs that schools are dealing with is increasing.

Children with social, emotional and mental health needs form one of the most common categories of special educational needs and disabilities. Too many children are in educational environments which do not meet their needs.

The previous UK government attempted to support schools by funding education mental health practitioners in schools. These practitioners are employed by the NHS and work in schools to help children manage common mental health problems.

Dedicated support like this is hugely important. But, according to research body the Education Policy Institute , only a third of schools are currently benefitting from this service. And research suggests that the kind of support offered may not be right for some young people.

All children who need access to an education mental health practitioner deserve to benefit from this service. It is not acceptable for mental health support to become a postcode lottery.

What children need

The Labor government outlined plans in its manifesto before the general election to use some of the funds raised by removing the VAT exemption for private schools to ensure that every school has access to specialist mental health support.

This will require expanding the number of training providers which train these practitioners, as well as committing additional funding to support those who wish to train.

Urgent investment in the child and adolescent mental health service is also required to reduce waiting times. Schools cannot be expected to compensate for the shortage of mental health services. Teachers must be able to rely on the support from external professionals if they are to focus on their core responsibilities in the classroom.

The government's curriculum and assessment review must consider how the school curriculum and assessment system can be better designed to support children's mental health. Evidence shows that exams cause children to access counseling due to stress .

This review offers an opportunity to think differently and more creatively about how schools might conduct assessments. There are alternatives to the high-stakes examinations which cause so much anxiety.

In her letter to the education workforce in July, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary , acknowledged the challenges that teachers were facing in relation to mental health and special educational needs services. She has pledged to focus on early years education and to rebuild the relationship between government and the education sector.

While this is welcome, the magnitude of the task at hand should not be underestimated. Schools cannot solve all the problems.

Broader problems

The government has announced it will introduce a children's well-being bill . This is intended to ensure that children are safe, healthy, happy and treated fairly. However, it is vital that these initiatives lead to real tangible change for children and young people.

The Labor manifesto also promised to introduce open access mental health services in every community. This would certainly be a welcome step.

Investment in developing community mental health hubs to support young people 's mental health through non-appointment "drop-in" services is urgently required. Developing hubs to support families should also be a policy priority. Support hubs could help parents better manage their own mental health and to understand the importance of positive adult-child interactions.

Systemic issues such as climate change and poverty also need urgent attention because these are often the causes of poor mental health, as highlighted in The Lancet report on youth mental health.

Provided by The Conversation

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The mental health crisis in British schools

Rosalind Hollis Professor of Education for Social Justice, University of Hull

Disclosure statement

Jonathan Glazzard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Hull provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

View all partners

NHS statistics suggest that 20.3% – one in five – children and young people aged from eight to 16 years in England had a probable mental disorder in 2023. This a huge rise from 2017, when 12.5% had a probable mental health disorder.

Data from social mobility charity The Sutton Trust shows that the prevalence of mental ill-health is higher for girls than boys. Girls are more likely to experience psychological distress and self-harm and are at greater likelihood of attempting suicide.

And research from charity Just Like Us highlights that young people who are LGBTQ+ are more likely to develop mental ill health. The risk is even greater for Black LGBTQ+ young people, 89% of whom have contemplated suicide.

According to a recently released report from The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Youth Mental Health , there is substantial evidence across the world that youth mental health has substantially deteriorated. Key factors outlined by the report include social media, concerns about climate change, food, housing and employment insecurity and intergenerational poverty.

This decline in youth mental health puts severe strain on schools, which play a central role in identifying mental health issues in children, providing help and offering advice to families.

Under pressure

The 2023 annual report from education regulator Ofsted highlights some of the key challenges schools are facing.

Schools are using part-time timetables for children who are absent from school due to their mental health and are waiting for a clinical assessment. Many children are experiencing delays in accessing specialist mental health services. Children are not getting help in a timely way and the severity of needs that schools are dealing with is increasing.

Children with social, emotional and mental health needs form one of the most common categories of special educational needs and disabilities. Too many children are in educational environments which do not meet their needs .

The previous UK government attempted to support schools by funding education mental health practitioners in schools. These practitioners are employed by the NHS and work in schools to help children manage common mental health problems.

Dedicated support like this is hugely important. But, according to research body the Education Policy Institute , only a third of schools are currently benefitting from this service. And research suggests that the kind of support offered may not be right for some young people.

All children who need access to an education mental health practitioner deserve to benefit from this service. It is not acceptable for mental health support to become a postcode lottery.

What children need

The Labour government outlined plans in its manifesto before the general election to use some of the funds raised by removing the VAT exemption for private schools to ensure that every school has access to specialist mental health support.

This will require expanding the number of training providers which train these practitioners, as well as committing additional funding to support those who wish to train.

Urgent investment in the child and adolescent mental health service is also required to reduce waiting times. Schools cannot be expected to compensate for the shortage of mental health services. Teachers must be able to rely on the support from external professionals if they are to focus on their core responsibilities in the classroom.

The government’s curriculum and assessment review must consider how the school curriculum and assessment system can be better designed to support children’s mental health. Evidence shows that exams cause children to access counselling due to stress .

This review offers an opportunity to think differently and more creatively about how schools might conduct assessment. There are alternatives to the high-stakes examinations which cause so much anxiety.

In her letter to the education workforce in July, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, acknowledged the challenges that teachers were facing in relation to mental health and special educational needs services. She has pledged to focus on early years education and to rebuild the relationship between government and the education sector.

While this is welcome, the magnitude of the task at hand should not be underestimated. Schools cannot solve all the problems.

Broader problems

The government has announced it will introduce a children’s wellbeing bill . This is intended to ensure that children are safe, healthy, happy and treated fairly. However, it is vital that these initiatives lead to real tangible change for children and young people.

The Labour manifesto also promised to introduce open access mental health services in every community. This would certainly be a welcome step.

Investment in developing community mental health hubs to support young people’s mental health through non-appointment “drop-in” services is urgently required. Developing hubs to support families should also be a policy priority. Support hubs could help parents better manage their own mental health and to understand the importance of positive adult-child interactions.

Systemic issues such as climate change and poverty also need urgent attention because these are often the causes of poor mental health, as highlighted in the Lancet report on youth mental health.

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How Extreme Heat Is Threatening Education Progress Worldwide

Children today face many more extreme weather hazards that can undermine global gains in education.

By Somini Sengupta

The continued burning of fossil fuels is closing schools around the world for days, sometimes weeks at a time, and threatening to undermine one of the greatest global gains of recent decades: children’s education.

It’s a glimpse into one of the starkest divides of climate change. Children today are living through many more abnormally hot days in their lifetimes than their grandparents, according to data released Wednesday by Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Consider the scale of some recent school closures.

Pakistan closed schools for half its students, that’s 26 million children, for a full week in May, when temperatures were projected to soar to more than 40 degrees Celsius. Bangladesh shuttered schools for half its students during an April heat wave, affecting 33 million children. So too South Sudan in April. The Philippines ordered school closures for two days , when heat reached what the country’s meteorological department called “danger” levels.

And in the United States, heat days prompted school closures or early dismissal in districts from Massachusetts to Colorado during the last school year. They still represent a small share of total school days, though one recent estimate suggests that the numbers are increasing quickly, from about three days a year a few years ago to double that number now, with many more expected by midcentury.

In short, heat waves, exacerbated by the accumulation of planet-heating gases in the atmosphere, are making it harder to learn. Even if schools are open, extremely high temperatures, especially over several hours, affects learning outcomes , including test scores, research shows .

“We are deeply concerned that the number of extreme heat days is going to indirectly lead to learning loss,” Lily Caprani, chief of advocacy for Unicef, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

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