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China
Overview of the education system (EAG 2023)
  • In China,19% of 25-64 year-olds have tertiary attainment, a similar share to those that have upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment (18%)
  • Compulsory education in China starts at the age of 6 and continues until the age of 14.
    • | Education at a Glance 2023 | Annexes from Education at a Glance 2023 | OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018 | Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China | National Bureau of Statistics of China |
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    The following list displays indicators for which your selected country shows the highest and lowest values among countries. The list can be sorted by level of education or by age group. All rankings are calculated including available data from OECD and partner countries. Find out more about the methodology here.

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    Attainment

    The level of upper secondary attainment among 25-64 year-olds is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (36.6 %, rank 44/45 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The level of below upper secondary attainment among 25-64 year-olds is one of the highest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (63.4 %, rank 2/45 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The level of upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary attainment among 25-64 year-olds is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (18.1 %, rank 44/45 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The level of tertiary attainment among 25-64 year-olds is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (18.5 %, rank 43/46 , 2022) Download Indicator

    China has one of the lowest percentages of 25-64 year-olds whose highest education level is a master's or equivalent tertiary education degree. (1.1 %, rank 38/41 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Attainment by gender

    The proportion of 25-64 year-old women who have attained a general degree at the tertiary level is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (18.7 %, rank 43/46 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The proportion of 25-64 year-old men who have attained at least upper secondary education is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (38.2 %, rank 44/45 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The proportion of 25-64 year-old women who have attained at least upper secondary education is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (34.9 %, rank 44/45 , 2022) Download Indicator

    China has one of the smallest shares of 25-64 year-old men whose highest education level is a master's or equivalent tertiary education degree. (1.1 %, rank 38/41 , 2022) Download Indicator

    China has one of the smallest shares of 25-64 year-old women whose highest education level is a master's or equivalent tertiary education degree. (1.1 %, rank 39/41 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The share of 25-64 year-old men who attained below upper secondary education in China is one of the highest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (61.8 %, rank 2/45 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The share of 25-64 year-old women who attained below upper secondary education in China is one of the highest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (65.1 %, rank 2/45 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The share of 25-34 year-old men who attained upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education in China is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (19.8 %, rank 44/45 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The share of 25-64 year-old women who attained upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education in China is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (16.3 %, rank 44/45 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Participation in education

    China has one of the smallest shares of lower secondary students enrolled in vocational programmes. (0 %, rank 23/23 , 2021) Download Indicator

    (75 %, rank 27/30 , 2021) Download Indicator

    Student mobility

    China has one of the smallest proportion of international or foreign students enrolled in tertiary education among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.4 %, rank 41/44 , 2021) Download Indicator

    In China, the share of international or foreign students enrolled in tertiary education among men is relatively low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (0.5 %, rank 40/43 , 2021) Download Indicator

    In China, the share of international or foreign students enrolled in tertiary education among women is relatively low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (0.4 %, rank 40/43 , 2021) Download Indicator

    (0.4 %, rank 35/38 , 2021) Download Indicator

    (0.4 %, rank 35/38 , 2021) Download Indicator

    Government and private expenditure in education

    Compared to 2015, the share of total government expenditure is comparatively highest in China. (140 Index, rank 2/49 , 2020) Download Indicator


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    General findings
    

    

    

    • On average in OECD countries, the employment rate for younger adults (25-34 year-olds) with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education as their highest attainment is 83% for those with a vocational qualification and 73% for those with a general one.
    • Combined school- and work-based vocational programmes facilitate the transition into the labour market. In Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia and Switzerland, around nine out of ten upper secondary VET students are in a combined school- and work-based programme, but in 10 countries, the share is less than one in five.
    • Vocational education and training (VET) programmes, which often require specific equipment and infrastructure, typically cost more per student than general programmes. On average across OECD countries, expenditure per student is about USD 11 400 in general upper secondary programmes, compared to about USD 13 200 in vocational programmes.
    • On average across OECD countries, 43% of teachers in vocational upper secondary programmes are aged 50 or over. This reflects an ageing VET teacher workforce, and also that some VET teachers join the teaching profession after an industry work experience.
    

    

    
| Spotlight on Vocational Education and Training | Education policies: Access and Participation - VET | Education policies: Finance and Funding - VET | Education policies: Labour market outcomes - VET | 
    

    
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    • On average across OECD, 20% of adults (25-64 year-olds) still do not have an upper secondary qualification in 2022. Forty percent have an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary qualification as their highest level of education, the same share as those with a tertiary degree.

    • Employment rates increase as educational attainment increases. Among 25-64 year-olds, the employment rate is 59% for those with below upper secondary attainment. This rises to 77% for adults with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment and 86% for those with tertiary attainment.

    • Civic engagement tends to increase as educational attainment increases. Across the OECD countries and accession countries participating in the European Social Survey (ESS) Round 10, around 10% of individuals with tertiary attainment have participated in a public demonstration in the previous 12 months, whereas 6% of individuals with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary educational attainment have done so.

    • The most common form of participation in adult learning is non-formal education and training, mostly job related. Slightly more than one in ten adults (25-64 year-olds) participate in non-formal education and training on average across OECD and accession countries reporting data with a four-week reference period, of which almost 80% have engaged in at least one job-related learning activity.
    

    

    
| Education policies: Attainment | Education policies: Labour market outcomes | 
    

    
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    • On average, 18% of children under 2 and 43% of 2-year-olds were enrolled in early childhood education (ECEC) programmes in 2021 but other ECEC services also play a significant role. In Japan, 26% of children under 2 and 53% of 2-year-olds are enrolled in ECEC services outside ISCED 0.

    • In Canada, Ireland and New Zealand, vocational programmes mostly serve those who have completed their initial schooling, and less than 12% of 15-19 year-old upper secondary students are pursuing VET. In contrast, there are 11 OECD countries where the majority of 15-19 year-olds enrolled in upper secondary education are in vocational programmes.

    • Most upper secondary VET students are in programmes that offer direct access to tertiary education. Countries where around 30% or more vocational students enrolled in programmes that lead to full level completion without direct access to tertiary education tend to be those with multiple vocational tracks and bridging options to allow progression to higher levels of education.

    • On average, 72% of students who enter upper secondary education graduate within its theoretical duration across countries with available data. Two years after the end of the theoretical duration, the average completion rate has increased to 82%.

    • Students who entered a general upper secondary programme have a higher rate of completion (87%) than those who entered in a vocational programme (73%) in nearly all countries two years after the end of the theoretical programme duration.

    • The COVID-19 pandemic had a very uneven impact on international student flows across countries during the period 2019-2021. While the share of mobile students fell by 6 percentage points in Australia and 9 percentage points in New Zealand, it increased in several countries and remained unchanged in many others.
    

    

    
| Education policies: Access and Participation  | 
    

    
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    • Across OECD countries, expenditure per student averages around USD 10 700 at the primary level, USD 11 900 at secondary and USD 18 100 at tertiary level. This reflects the fact that higher levels of education often require teachers to have more advanced qualifications and specialised knowledge which are usually accompanied by higher salaries.

    • Vocational education and training (VET) programmes, which often require specific equipment and infrastructure, typically cost more per student than general programmes. On average across OECD countries, expenditure per student is about USD 11 400 in general upper secondary programmes, compared to about USD 13 200 in vocational programmes.
    • Upper secondary vocational programmes receive between 3% and 17% of all funding for primary to tertiary educational institutions. Post-secondary non-tertiary programmes, which are often vocational, receive as much as 7% of funding (in Ireland) and short-cycle tertiary as much as 10% (in Canada).

    • In 2020, on average across OECD countries, 84% of the funding for primary to tertiary educational institutions came directly from government sources, 15% from private sources and 1% from non-domestic (international) sources.

    • Higher education levels tend to have higher teachers' salary costs per student. On average across OECD countries, they rise from USD 3 614 per student in primary education to USD 4 424 in lower secondary education. This is mostly due to a combination of higher teachers' salaries and instruction time, and shorter teaching hours.
    

    

    
| Education policies: Finance and Funding | 
    

    
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    • Students across the OECD receive an average of 7 634 hours of compulsory instruction during their primary and lower secondary education, ranging from 5 245 hours in Poland to double that in Australia (11 000 hours).

    • Teachers' actual salaries at pre-primary, primary and general secondary levels of education are 81-95% of the earnings of tertiary-educated workers on average across OECD countries and other participants.

    • School heads' actual salaries are more than 51% higher on average than those of teachers across primary and secondary education in OECD countries and other participants.

    • More than three-quarters of the OECD countries have national, or central, examinations in the final years of upper secondary education (in general programmes). A large majority of these countries use these examinations to grant students access to tertiary education.

    

    

    
| Education policies: Teachers | Education policies: Teachers | OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)  | 
    

    
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Key

    
Diagram of funding flows - China

    

    

    

    

    
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Key

    
Country Reviews for China

    

    

    

    








    
Note: These values should be interpreted with care since they are influenced
by countries' specific contexts and trade-offs. In education, there is often no simple
most- or least-efficient model. For instance, the share of private expenditure in
education must be read against other measures designed to mitigate inequities,
such as loans and grants; longer learning time is an opportunity to convey
more and better content to students, but may hinder investments in other important
areas. If you want further information on the nature of different variables, please
take the time to read the analysis and contextual information, available at the website
for each publication.
    
All rankings for individual variables are compiled on the basis of OECD and G20 countries for which data are available.
The OECD average includes only OECD countries which are listed here: http://www.oecd.org/about/membersandpartners/


    
Reference years displayed in the Education GPS correspond to the most common year of reference among countries for which data is available on each variable. Data for the latest available year is preferred and some
countries may have provided data refering to a more recent or late year. To know more about possible exceptions on data please click on the "Download Indicator" link on each variable. When a year of reference corresponds to a school year encompassing two years, the reference reads as follows: 2018 for school year 2017/2018.


    
*TALIS averages are based on all countries participating in the TALIS survey, including partner countries and economies.
This explains the difference between the OECD average and the TALIS averages.
Data from the TALIS survey and Education at a Glance (EAG) may differ. See Annex E of the TALIS technical report and
Annex 3
of EAG 2021 for more details about the data collections.


    
B-S-J-Z (China) refers to the four PISA-participating provinces/municipalities of the People's Republic of China:
Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.


    
For additional notes, please refer to annexes in the list of links below the introductory country profile text.