Education in the United Kingdom
Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems under separate governments. The UK Government is responsible for England, whilst the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively.
| Department for Education | |
|---|---|
| National education budget (2015) | |
| Budget | 6.6% of GDP |
| General details | |
| Primary languages | English, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh |
| Literacy (2020) | |
| Total | 99% |
| Male | 99% |
| Female | 99% |
| Attainment | |
| Secondary diploma | 88% |
| Post-secondary diploma | 45.7% |
For details of education in each country, see:
In 2018, the Programme for International Student Assessment, coordinated by the OECD, ranked the overall knowledge and skills of British 15-year-olds as 13th in the world in reading, literacy, mathematics, and science. The average British student scored 503.7, compared with the OECD average of 493.
In 2014, the country spent 6.6 per cent of its GDP on all levels of education – 1.4 percentage points above the OECD average of 5.2 per cent. In 2017, 45.7 per cent of British people aged 25 to 64 attained some form of post-secondary education. Of British people aged 25 to 64, 22.6% attained a bachelor's degree or higher, whilst 52% of British people aged 25 to 34 attained some form of tertiary education, about 4% above the OECD average of 44%.