France
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France
Overview of the education system (EAG 2026)
| Education at a Glance 2026 (EAG 2026): OECD Indicators | Country note | Country note in French | Annexes from Education at a Glance 2026 | OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018 | OECD Education Policy Outlook: France | Ministère de l'éducation nationale (Ministry of National Education, in French) | Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche (Ministry of Higher Education and Research, in French) |
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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
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Attainment
In France, the share of 25-34 year-olds who attained a master's or equivalent tertiary education degree is one of the largest among countries with available data. (28.3 %, rank 4/37 , 2025) Download Indicator
Entrance
The share of female students entering doctoral or equivalent programmes in France is one of the smallest compared to other OECD countries and partner economies. (46 %, rank 38/42 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the average age of new entrants in short-cycle programmes is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (20.2 Years, rank 33/34 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the average age of new entrants in doctoral programmes is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (28 Years, rank 38/40 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the proportion of new female entrants in master's long first degree (LFD) programmes is relatively low. (46.8 %, rank 25/25 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the average age of new entrants in master's programmes is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (24.2 Years, rank 36/40 , 2024) Download Indicator
Entrance by field of education and gender
In agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary, the share of female new entrants to bachelor’s programmes in France was among the smallest internationally. (31.6 %, rank 25/29 , 2024) Download Indicator
In social sciences, journalism and information, the proportion of female new entrants to doctoral programmes in France was among the smallest internationally. (53.5 %, rank 25/27 , 2024) Download Indicator
In social sciences, journalism and information, the proportion of female new entrants to master’s programmes was among the smallest across countries with available data. (65.3 %, rank 26/28 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of female new entrants in tertiary education in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary placed France among the smallest internationally. (25.4 %, rank 24/24 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the share of female among new entrants in doctoral programmes enrolled in the field of education is relatively small. (62.7 %, rank 22/25 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the share of female among new entrants in doctoral programmes enrolled in the field of natural sciences, mathematics and statistics is relatively small. (43.9 %, rank 26/28 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the share of female among new entrants in doctoral programmes enrolled in the field of health and welfare is relatively small. (56.3 %, rank 26/27 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of female students entering short cycle tertiary programmes in information and communication technologies in France is one of the smallest compared to other OECD countries and partner economies. (8.6 %, rank 21/24 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of male students entering short cycle tertiary programmes in natural sciences, mathematics and statistics in France is one of the smallest compared to other OECD countries and partner economies. (39.2 %, rank 16/20 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of male students entering short-cycle tertiary programmes in engineering, manufacturing and construction in France is one of the smallest compared to other OECD countries and partner economies. (57.7 %, rank 25/25 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of male students entering short-cycle tertiary programmes in Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in France is one of the smallest compared to other OECD countries and partner economies. (69.3 %, rank 22/25 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of female in short-cycle tertiary programmes in the field of social sciences, journalism and information is one of the smallest among OECD countries and partner economies with available data. (62.9 %, rank 14/16 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of female in short-cycle tertiary programmes in the field of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary is one of the smallest among OECD countries and partner economies with available data. (20.1 %, rank 20/20 , 2024) Download Indicator
Participation in education
Enrolment in early childhood education (ISCED 0) among 3- to 5-year-olds placed France among the highest across countries. (99.8 %, rank 1/37 , 2024) Download Indicator
The percentage of three-year-olds in early childhood education in France is one of the highest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (100 %, rank 1/44 , 2024) Download Indicator
The percentage of four-year-olds in early childhood and primary education in France is one of the highest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (100 %, rank 1/43 , 2024) Download Indicator
The enrolment rate of 15–19-year-olds in post-secondary non-tertiary general programmes was among the lowest across participating countries. (0 %, rank 9/11 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the enrolment rate of children under 3 is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (3.4 %, rank 32/36 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of students enrolled in programmes providing full completion and access to tertiary education among all students enrolled in upper secondary vocational programmes is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (58 %, rank 35/39 , 2024) Download Indicator
The average age of post-secondary non-tertiary students enrolled in vocational programmes in France is among the lowest. (25.5 %, rank 26/27 , 2024) Download Indicator
The percentage of three-year-olds in other registered ECEC services in France is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0 %, rank 11/15 , 2024) Download Indicator
The percentage of five-year-olds in ECEC in France is one of the highest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (99.5 %, rank 4/44 , 2024) Download Indicator
Graduation
The average age of graduates from general programmes at the upper secondary level in France is relatively low compared to other participating countries. (17.1 Years, rank 38/41 , 2024) Download Indicator
Graduation by field of education
The percentage of tertiary graduates in the field of education is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (4 %, rank 37/38 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of doctoral graduates in the field of health and welfare in France is relatively small. (3.7 %, rank 35/38 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the percentage of post-secondary non-tertiary vocational graduates in the field of business, aministration and law is relatively low. (7.4 %, rank 18/21 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the percentage of post-secondary non-tertiary vocational graduates in the field of engineering, manufacturing and construction is relatively low. (0.9 %, rank 19/21 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the percentage of post-secondary non-tertiary vocational graduates in the field of health and welfare is relatively low. (7 %, rank 19/21 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the percentage of post-secondary non-tertiary vocational graduates in the field of services is relatively low. (2.7 %, rank 20/21 , 2024) Download Indicator
Graduation by field of education and gender
The proportion of female tertiary graduates in education is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries. (5.3 %, rank 37/38 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the percentage of female post-secondary non-tertiary graduates in the field of health and welfare is relatively small. (69.6 %, rank 17/19 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the percentage of female post-secondary non-tertiary graduates in the field of business, administration and law is relatively small. (53.5 %, rank 21/21 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the share of female post-secondary non-tertiary graduates in the field of services is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (24.6 %, rank 21/21 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the share of female graduates in tertiary education in the fields of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary is one of the smallest among OECD countries and partner economies with available data. (44.3 %, rank 30/34 , 2024) Download Indicator
Fields of education
In France, the percentage of new entrants to tertiary education in the field of education is relatively low. (3.4 %, rank 26/27 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the percentage of new entrants to tertiary education in the field of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is relatively low. (3.8 %, rank 26/27 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of new entrants to tertiary education in STEM fields was one of the smallest across countries with available data. (23.7 %, rank 23/27 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the share of new entrants in short-cycle tertiary programmes in the field of engineering, manufacturing and construction is relatively small. (5 %, rank 26/28 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the percentage of new entrants to doctoral programmes in the field of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary is relatively low, compared to other countries with available data. (0 %, rank 29/31 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the percentage of new entrants to doctoral programmes in the field of health and welfare is relatively low, compared to other countries with available data. (4.3 %, rank 29/31 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the share of new entrants in education bachelor's programmes is comparatively smallest, compared to OECD and partner countries with available data. (1.3 %, rank 32/32 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the proportion of new entrants in Information and communication technologies bachelor's programmes is relatively low, compared to OECD and partner countries with available data. (3.2 %, rank 30/32 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of new entrants in short-cycle tertiary programmes in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics is comparatively low in France, compared to OECD and partner countries with available data. (8.8 %, rank 25/28 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the proportion of new entrants in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary bachelor's programmes is especially small, compared to the other countries with available data. (0.5 %, rank 31/32 , 2024) Download Indicator
Expenditure in education and national wealth
In France, expenditure on secondary educational institutions as a percentage of GDP is comparatively high. (2.4 %, rank 2/37 , 2023) Download Indicator
Teachers
In France, pre-primary public schools have among the fewest instruction days per school year across OECD and partner countries with available data. (162 Days, rank 36/36 , 2025) Download Indicator
In France, primary public schools have among the fewest instruction days per school year across OECD and partner countries with available data. (162 Days, rank 40/42 , 2025) Download Indicator
Who the teachers are
The share of women among teaching staff in pre-primary education is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (91.6 %, rank 37/40 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of women among teaching staff in post-secondary non-tertiary education is one of the smallest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (42.6 %, rank 19/23 , 2024) Download Indicator
In France, the share of bachelor's, master's and doctoral level female teachers younger than 30 is relatively low, compared to other countries with data available. (45.5 %, rank 34/38 , 2024) Download Indicator
The share of teachers aged between 30 and 49 in post secondary non-tertiary education is relatively low in France, compared to other countries with available data. (44.4 %, rank 18/22 , 2024) Download Indicator
Teachers' salaries
The ratio of upper secondary teachers' salaries to earnings of full-time, full-year workers with tertiary education is one of the highest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.92 Ratio, rank 3/19 , 2025) Download Indicator
Teacher shortages
In France, the share of fully qualified primary and secondary teachers who left the profession is relatively low compared to other participating countries. (1.9 %, rank 22/24 , 2025) Download Indicator
The gap in job satisfaction between teachers and other similarly educated employed adults aged 16-65 is especially wide in favor of other employed adults in France. (-10.1 % points, rank 23/27 , 2023) Download Indicator
Ratio of student to teaching staff
The number of pupils per teacher in pre-primary schools is one of the highest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (21.6 Ratio, rank 4/38 , 2024) Download Indicator
The ratio of students to teaching staff in short-cycle tertiary programmes is comparatively low in France. (9.3 Ratio, rank 16/20 , 2024) Download Indicator
The ratio of students to teaching staff at the vocational upper secondary level is especially low in France. (8.1 Ratio, rank 29/32 , 2024) Download Indicator
Organisation of the education system
Classes in lower secondary private institutions are comparatively large in France. (27 Students, rank 4/37 , 2024) Download Indicator
Employment and educational attainment
The employment rate among 25-64 year-olds with a doctoral or equivalent tertiary education degree is low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (90.2 %, rank 27/30 , 2025) Download Indicator
The employment rate among 25-64 year-olds with a vocational upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education is relatively low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (75.2 %, rank 30/33 , 2025) Download Indicator
Compared to other countries with available data, the employment rate of 25-34 year-olds with a doctoral or equivalent tertiary education degree is relatively low in France. (87.2 %, rank 14/18 , 2025) Download Indicator
Employment by gender and educational attainment
The employment rate among 55-64 year-old men with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education is comparatively low in France. (60.2 %, rank 36/40 , 2025) Download Indicator
In France, the employment rate among 25-34 year-old men with vocational upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education is comparatively low (83.5 %, rank 29/32 , 2025) Download Indicator
In France, the share of employed 25-64 year-old men with vocational upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education is relatively low, compared to other OECD and partner countries with available data. (77.8 %, rank 31/32 , 2025) Download Indicator
Unemployment and educational attainment
The unemployment rate among 25-34 year-olds with below upper secondary education is comparatively high. (22 %, rank 5/38 , 2025) Download Indicator
Inactivity and educational attainment
In France, the inactivity rate of 25-34 year-olds with a short cycle tertiary education degree is one of the lowest among countries with available data. (6.4 %, rank 21/25 , 2025) Download Indicator
Neither in education nor employed
The percentage of 18-24 year-old men neither employed nor in education or training is one of the highest among OECD countries and partner economies with available data. (19.8 %, rank 4/38 , 2025) Download Indicator
Social outcomes
In France, the share of adults aged 25-64 with below upper secondary attainment who kept worrying about work when not working some or most of the time was among the largest across countries with available data. (44.3 %, rank 4/26 , 2024) Download Indicator
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General findings
- Educational attainment remains at an all-time high in 2025 as more people obtain advanced qualifications. Across the OECD, 43% of working-age adults have a tertiary qualification, while the share of adults with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment is slightly lower at 39%.
- On a similar note, the share of young adults without upper secondary attainment continues to decline across the OECD, standing at 12% in 2025. Therefore, while more young adults obtain a tertiary qualification, the share of individuals whose highest qualification is upper secondary with a vocational orientation is decreasing in almost all OECD countries.
- Regarding the share of young people being neither in employment nor in education or training, it stood at 14% as of 2025 across OECD countries. However, cross-country comparisons reveal a wide variety of trends, ranging from large falls in Croatia or Ireland to increases in Germany or Latvia.
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- Most children aged 3 to 5 are enrolled in early childhood education, with an average participation rate of 86% across the OECD in 2024. Participation in early childhood education increases with age and tends to be higher in countries with stronger institutional support for participation.
- 76.2% of students complete upper secondary programmes within the theoretical programme duration. This rises to 84.9% with two additional years on average across the OECD.
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- In 2023, OECD countries allocated an average of 9.8% of total government expenditure to education, equivalent to 4.2% of GDP.
- Total expenditure on education tends to rise with the level of education. In primary education, expenditure per student was USD 13 552 in 2023 on average across the OECD. This amount rises to USD 14 923 in secondary education and to USD 22 402 in tertiary education.
- Tertiary education continues to expand, placing pressure on public budgets. Private sources represent a larger share of total funding at the tertiary level than at any other level of education. However, as a whole most investment in education comes from public sources. On average, across the OECD, government expenditure on primary to tertiary education corresponded to 4% of GDP in 2023, while private expenditure corresponded to 0.6%. Both of these figures are measured as initial source of funds, which implies that we are tracking the original provider.
- Research and development represents around one-third of total expenditure across the OECD on tertiary educational institutions, underlining their dual role in both teaching and research. On average across the OECD, in 2023, USD 8 060 were invested annually into research and development for every student enrolled in tertiary education.
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- Compulsory teaching time averages 770 hours per year for primary students and 710 hours for lower secondary students (general programmes), a difference of about 60 hours annually.
- The ratio of children to teachers in primary education has slightly fallen across most OECD countries, decreasing from an average of 15 children per teacher in 2015 to 14 in 2024.
- Teachers’ statutory salaries increase with the level of education taught. On average, across OECD countries and economies, the salaries of teachers with the most prevalent qualifications with 15 years of experience range from USD 60 437 at pre-primary level to USD 68 928 at upper secondary level.
- Teachers’ actual salaries at primary and general secondary levels of education are 87-95% of the average earnings of tertiary-educated workers across OECD countries. School heads' actual salaries are usually higher than those of tertiary-educated workers.
| Education policies: Teachers | Education policies: Learning environment | OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) |
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- On average across OECD countries, 9.1% of teachers in primary and secondary education are non-fully qualified, with shares exceeding 18% in Chile, Denmark, Estonia and Germany.
- Furthermore, the share of fully qualified teachers leaving the profession in primary and secondary schools stands at 6.4% of the total teaching workforce.
- The ratio of children to teachers in primary education has slightly fallen across most OECD countries, decreasing from an average of 15 children per teacher in 2015 to 14 in 2024.
- Regarding job satisfaction among teachers, participating countries show wide differences. Japan, Spain and Czechia reported that teachers tend to be much more satisfied with their jobs than other employed adults. On the other hand, teachers in Hungary, Chile or Latvia tend to be less satisfied with their jobs than other employed adults.
| Education policies: Teachers | Education policies: Teacher working conditions | Education policies: Teacher employment |
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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: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/members-partners.html
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. However, OECD averages from Education at a Glance coming from the OECD database are the averages for the indicator reference year appearing in the Education GPS and may differ from averages in the book where averages can include data from multiple reference years, based on countries' data availability.
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: 2026 for school year 2025/2026 in the Northern Hemisphere.
*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 Sources Methodologies and Technical Notes of EAG 2025 for more details about the data collections.
For additional notes, please refer to annexes in the list of links below the introductory country profile text.
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: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/members-partners.html
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. However, OECD averages from Education at a Glance coming from the OECD database are the averages for the indicator reference year appearing in the Education GPS and may differ from averages in the book where averages can include data from multiple reference years, based on countries' data availability.
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: 2026 for school year 2025/2026 in the Northern Hemisphere.
*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 Sources Methodologies and Technical Notes of EAG 2025 for more details about the data collections.
For additional notes, please refer to annexes in the list of links below the introductory country profile text.