Saudi Arabia
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Saudi Arabia
Teachers and teaching conditions (TALIS 2024)
  • In Saudi Arabia, teachers are on average 43 years old, which is lower than the OECD average (45 years). Since 2018, the share of teachers aged 50 and above has increased by 12 percentage points.
  • About 30% of teachers have non-teaching work experience (lower than the OECD average: 57%).
  • Only 4% of teachers work in schools where more than 10% of students have a different first language than the language of instruction (lower than the OECD average: 25%). At the same time, 88% feel they can adapt their teaching to cultural diversity “quite a bit” or “a lot” (higher than the OECD average: 63%).
  • Nearly 90% of teachers feel they can support students’ social and emotional learning “quite a bit” or “a lot” (higher than the OECD average: 73%).
  • Around 42% of teachers work in schools where at least one hybrid or online lesson was taught in the last month (higher than the OECD average: 16%).
  • About 43% of teachers report having used artificial intelligence (AI) in their work (higher than the OECD average: 36%).
  • Only 17% of novice teachers with up to five years of experience have an assigned mentor (lower than the OECD average: 26%). This share has not changed since 2018.
  • As many as 90% of teachers report that professional learning activities undertaken in the past 12 months had a positive impact on their teaching (higher than the OECD average: 55%).
  • The most frequent forms of collaboration include discussing the learning development of specific students (33%), working with colleagues to ensure common standards in evaluation (27%), and taking part in collaborative professional learning (21%).
  • About 77% of teachers agree or strongly agree that teachers are valued in society (higher than the OECD average: 22%). This share has increased by 25 percentage points since 2018.
  • Around 77% of teachers are satisfied with their terms of employment, excluding salaries (higher than the OECD average: 68%). Satisfaction with terms of employment has increased by 16 percentage points since 2018.
  • About 72% of teachers report satisfaction with their salaries (higher than the OECD average: 39%). This share increased by 13 percentage points between 2018 and 2024.
  • The most commonly reported sources of stress include having too many lessons to teach (63%), being held responsible for student achievement (62%), and having too much marking (62%).
  • The share of teachers who report overall job satisfaction is 94% (higher than the OECD average: 89%). Job satisfaction has increased by 6 percentage points since 2018.
  • About 26% of teachers under age 30 intend to leave teaching within the next five years (similar to the OECD average: 20%). This share has not changed since 2018.

  • * Estimates for Alberta (Canada), the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.

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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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    Who the teachers are

    Compared to other TALIS countries, a smaller proportion of teachers in Saudi Arabia are female. (48.6 %, rank 52/54 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Initial and induction training of teachers

    The proportion of recent lower secondary teacher graduates in Saudi Arabia who “agree” or “strongly agree” that the quality of their initial education was high overall was among the highest across countries with available data. (94.7 %, rank 4/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of recent lower secondary teacher graduates in Saudi Arabia who reported that their initial education prepared them well for teaching in a multicultural or multilingual setting was among the highest across countries with available data. (80.2 %, rank 2/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Saudi Arabia, the percentage of recent lower secondary teacher graduates who felt well prepared by their initial education to use digital resources and tools for teaching was among the highest across countries with available data. (91 %, rank 1/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The share of recent lower secondary teacher graduates in Saudi Arabia reporting that their initial education prepared them well to support students’ social and emotional development was among the largest across countries with available data. (89 %, rank 3/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Professional development of teachers

    A large percentage of teachers feel professional development activities in the 12 months prior to the survey had a positive impact on their teaching practices. (90 %, rank 5/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Among novice lower secondary teachers in Saudi Arabia, the percentage reporting that professional learning activities during the 12 months preceding the survey had a positive impact on their teaching was among the highest across countries with available data. (90.9 %, rank 4/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers' practices

    Compared to other TALIS countries, class-time spent on classroom management is longer. (23.3 %, rank 1/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Saudi Arabia, the share of lower secondary teachers who reported fulfilling their lesson aims “quite a bit” or “a lot” across all seven TALIS areas was among the highest across countries with available data. (77.8 %, rank 5/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of novice lower secondary teachers in Saudi Arabia who reported fulfilling their lesson aims “quite a bit” or “a lot” across all seven TALIS areas was among the highest across countries with available data. (74.1 %, rank 4/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teacher leadership and autonomy

    The percentage of lower secondary teachers in Saudi Arabia who “agree” or “strongly agree” that their school encourages staff to lead new initiatives was among the highest across countries with available data. (93.5 %, rank 5/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers' autonomy, collegiality and collaboration

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Saudi Arabia who reported exchanging teaching materials with colleagues at least once a month was among the lowest compared to other countries. (19.7 %, rank 55/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Among lower secondary teachers in Saudi Arabia, those engaging in discussions about the learning development of specific students at least once a month were among the lowest across countries with available data. (32.7 %, rank 54/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Saudi Arabia, the share of lower secondary teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that their principal has good professional relationships with staff was among the largest compared to other countries. (95.8 %, rank 3/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers' satisfaction with their jobs

    A larger proportion of teachers believe that the teaching profession is valued in society. (77.1 %, rank 5/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Compared to most other TALIS countries, Saudi Arabia has a high proportion of teachers who are satisfied with the salary they receive for their work. (72.3 %, rank 3/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Status of the teaching profession

    The share of lower secondary teachers in Saudi Arabia who “agree” or “strongly agree” that teachers are valued by parents and guardians was among the largest across countries with available data. (90.7 %, rank 3/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The percentage of lower secondary teachers in Saudi Arabia who 'agree' or 'strongly agree' that their views are valued by policymakers was among the highest across countries with available data. (84.2 %, rank 4/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers' engagement, motivation and drive

    Among novice teachers in lower secondary, the share reporting that teaching was their first career choice in Saudi Arabia was among the largest across countries with available data. (92.1 %, rank 2/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers’ working conditions, mobility and risk of attrition

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers working part-time in Saudi Arabia was among the largest across countries with available data. (46.6 %, rank 3/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The average number of hours worked per week by full-time lower secondary teachers in Saudi Arabia was among the lowest across countries with available data. (30.3 Hours/week, rank 52/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Saudi Arabia who "agree" or "strongly agree" that too many change initiatives are introduced at their school was among the largest across countries with available data. (73.1 %, rank 5/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teacher stress factors

    The share of lower secondary teachers in Saudi Arabia reporting stress due to having too many lessons to teach was among the highest across countries with available data. (63.1 %, rank 2/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Saudi Arabia who reported that too much marking causes stress was among the highest across countries with available data. (62.1 %, rank 4/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Saudi Arabia, the share of lower secondary teachers stressed by extra duties due to absent colleagues was among the highest across countries with available data. (56 %, rank 1/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Saudi Arabia who reported stress from being held responsible for students’ social and emotional well-being was among the highest across countries with available data. (58.3 %, rank 1/55 , 2024) Download Indicator


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    General findings
    
                            
    • Teachers are aging in many education systems. While the average age of teachers is around 45 years old, more than one out of two teachers are 50 or older.
    • Prior non-teaching work experience is more and more common for teachers. In around half of the education systems, at least one out of two teachers have prior non-teaching work experience.
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    • Around one in three teachers report having used artificial intelligence (AI) in their work, on average across OECD education systems.
    • Many teachers – especially female and experienced teachers – report meeting key lesson aims, though supporting students' social and emotional learning remains challenging.
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    • The large majority of teachers are satisfied with their profession, which indicates that most teachers find meaning and personal fulfilment in their work. Almost nine in ten teachers report that they are satisfied with their jobs overall.
    • Administrative workload remains a considerable demand for teachers. About half of teachers report excessive administrative work as a source of work-related stress, particularly those with more than ten years of experience.
    • Discipline and behaviour issues as sources of stress are important predictors of teachers’ fulfilment of their lesson aims, their well-being, job satisfaction and their intention to leave teaching. About one in five teachers report experiencing significant disruptive noise and disorder in their classrooms, and the share of time spent on maintaining discipline has increased since 2018.
    • Teachers are spending more time working together compared to 2018. Full-time teachers report spending around 3 hours per week participating in teamwork and dialogue with colleagues. Teachers who report good professional relationships with principals, other teachers, parents and guardians, and students tend to report higher well-being and job satisfaction.
    Visualisations
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    • Administrative workload remains a considerable demand for teachers. About half of teachers report excessive administrative work as a source of work-related stress, particularly those with more than ten years of experience.
    • Discipline and behaviour issues as sources of stress are important predictors of teachers’ fulfilment of their lesson aims, their well-being, job satisfaction and their intention to leave teaching. About one in five teachers report experiencing significant disruptive noise and disorder in their classrooms, and the share of time spent on maintaining discipline has increased since 2018.
    • Teachers’ satisfaction with their terms of employment (including salary) has increased in many education systems since 2018.
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    • Mentoring is gaining popularity. About one in four novice teachers (teachers with up to five years of teaching experience) has an assigned mentor.
    • While nearly all teachers participate in continuous professional learning, not all of them find that doing so has a positive impact on their teaching. Just 55% of teachers report that the professional learning activities they participated in during the 12 months preceding the survey had a positive impact on their teaching.
    Visualisations
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    • Teachers are spending more time working together compared to 2018. Full-time teachers report spending around 3 hours per week participating in teamwork and dialogue with colleagues. Teachers who report good professional relationships with principals, other teachers, parents and guardians, and students tend to report higher well-being and job satisfaction.
    Visualisations
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    • Feedback and appraisal are common features of teachers’ professional lives. On average across OECD education systems, 88% of teachers report receiving feedback from their school principal, 61% from assigned mentors and 55% from external individuals or bodies. At the same time, principals report that only less than 6% of teachers are never formally appraised.
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    Key
    Diagram of funding flows - Saudi Arabia

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    Key
    Country Reviews for Saudi Arabia

    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. 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.

    *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 2024 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.