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South Africa
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Diagram of the education system

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  • Diagram of education system in country language


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    • > Notes on the education system in South Africa
    Education system in South Africa

    South Africa
    Overview of the education system (EAG 2019)
  • Tertiary attainment in South Africa is the lowest across all OECD and partner countries, with the majority of the population having an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary qualification as their highest level of education.
  • More adults are attaining upper secondary education in South Africa than a decade ago. The share of young adults without upper secondary education dropped from 27% in 2008 to 18% in 2018.
  • Those with an upper secondary qualification are less likely to be employed and are more at risk of being neither employed nor in education or training at a young age than those with a tertiary degree.
  • While tertiary education is not widespread in South Africa, the country spends a larger share of its wealth on the public funding of primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education than most OECD and partner countries.
    • | Education at a Glance 2019 | Country Note | Annexes from Education at a Glance 2019 | OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018 | Department of Basic Education | Department of Higher Education and Training | Statistics South Africa |
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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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    Educational outcomes

    In South Africa, the percentage of 25-64 year-olds who attained a bachelor's or equivalent tertiary education degree is one of the lowest among countries with available data. (5.3 %, rank 41/46 , 2018) Download Indicator

    South Africa has one of the lowest percentages of 25-64 year-olds whose highest education level is a master's or equivalent tertiary education degree. (0.9 %, rank 39/43 , 2018) Download Indicator

    Attainment by gender

    In South Africa, the share of 25-64 year-old men who attained a bachelor's or equivalent tertiary education degree is one of the smallest among countries with available data. (5.1 %, rank 40/46 , 2018) Download Indicator

    The share of 25-64 year-old women who attained a bachelor's or equivalent tertiary education degree is one of the smallest among countries with available data. (5.5 %, rank 41/46 , 2018) Download Indicator

    South Africa 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 %, rank 39/43 , 2018) Download Indicator

    South Africa 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. (0.8 %, rank 39/43 , 2018) Download Indicator

    Participation in education

    In South Africa, the percentage of tertiary students enrolled in private institutions is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (7.4 %, rank 40/44 , 2017) Download Indicator

    Graduation expectancy

    In South Africa, the percentage of today's young people expected to graduate from upper secondary education during their lifetimes is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (43.2 %, rank 36/38 , 2017) Download Indicator

    The percentage of today's young people expected to graduate from a doctoral or equivalent programme in South Africa ranks as one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.3 %, rank 33/39 , 2017) Download Indicator

    South Africa has one of the lowest percentages of young people expected to obtain a bachelor's or an equivalent degree during their lifetime. (13.7 %, rank 36/37 , 2017) Download Indicator

    The percentage of today's young people expected to obtain a master's or an equivalent degree during their lifetime is one of the lowest among OECD countries and partner economies with available data. (1.3 %, rank 36/38 , 2017) Download Indicator

    Graduation by gender

    Among OECD and partner countries with available data, South Africa has one of the highest percentages of female graduates from tertiary programmes. (61 %, rank 2/6 , 2016) Download Indicator

    In South Africa, the share of female doctoral graduates in the field of business, administration and law is relatively low. (37.2 %, rank 34/41 , 2017) Download Indicator

    In South Africa, the share of female doctoral graduates in the field of engineering, manufacturing and construction is relatively low. (16.8 %, rank 40/42 , 2017) Download Indicator

    Graduation by field of education

    The percentage of tertiary graduates in the field of arts and humanities is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (4.9 %, rank 37/44 , 2017) Download Indicator

    The percentage of tertiary graduates in the field of business, administration and law is one of the highest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (33.2 %, rank 6/44 , 2017) Download Indicator

    The percentage of tertiary graduates in the field of natural sciences, mathematics and statistics is one of the highest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (7.1 %, rank 10/44 , 2017) Download Indicator

    The percentage of tertiary graduates in the field of engineering, manufacturing and construction is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (8.3 %, rank 36/44 , 2017) Download Indicator

    The percentage of tertiary graduates in the field of health and welfare is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (6.7 %, rank 42/44 , 2017) Download Indicator

    The percentage of tertiary graduates in the field of services is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.7 %, rank 40/44 , 2017) Download Indicator

    The share of doctoral graduates in the field of business, administration and law in South Africa is relatively large. (17 %, rank 4/45 , 2017) Download Indicator

    The share of doctoral graduates in the field of engineering, manufacturing and construction in South Africa is relatively small. (8.9 %, rank 37/45 , 2017) Download Indicator

    Student mobility

    In South Africa, the number of international or foreign students per national student abroad is one of the highest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (6 Students, rank 6/46 , 2017) Download Indicator

    In South Africa, international students from Latin America and the Caribbean are least represented among all international students, compared to other OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.5 %, rank 37/45 , 2017) Download Indicator

    In South Africa, international students from Asia are least represented among all international students, compared to other OECD and partner countries with available data. (4.9 %, rank 40/45 , 2017) Download Indicator

    In South Africa, international students from Africa are highest represented among all international students, compared to other OECD and partner countries with available data. (80.7 %, rank 1/45 , 2017) Download Indicator

    Expenditure in education and national wealth

    In South Africa, public expenditure on educational institutions as a percentage of GDP on primary to tertiary education from final source of funds is relatively high. (4.7 %, rank 9/39 , 2016) Download Indicator

    Public and private expenditure in education

    The share of private expenditure on pre-primary education is one of the largest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (26.6 %, rank 6/31 , 2016) Download Indicator

    Ratio of student to teaching staff

    The number of students per teacher in primary schools is one of the highest among OECD countries and partner countries with available data. (30.3 Ratio, rank 2/41 , 2016) Download Indicator

    The number of students per teacher in secondary schools is one of the largest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (26.8 Ratio, rank 3/38 , 2016) Download Indicator

    Who the teachers are

    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. (47.4 %, rank 13/18 , 2017) Download Indicator

    Unemployment and educational attainment

    The inactivity rate of 25-34 years-old adults with below upper secondary education is high in South Africa. (34.9 %, rank 10/42 , 2018) Download Indicator

    Neither in education nor employed

    The proportion of 15-19 year-olds who are neither employed nor in education or training is comparatively large in South Africa. (13.5 %, rank 7/40 , 2018) Download Indicator

    The percentage of 15-19 years-old men neither employed nor in education or training is one of the highest among OECD countries and partner economies with available data. (11.8 %, rank 5/39 , 2018) Download Indicator

    The percentage of 15-19 years-old women neither employed nor in education or training is one of the highest among OECD countries and partner economies with available data. (15.2 %, rank 7/40 , 2018) Download Indicator


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    General findings
    • In 2018, 44% of 25-34 year-olds held a tertiary degree, compared to 35% in 2008, on average across OECD countries.
    • Tertiary-educated adults also reap higher earnings, although this varies by field of study. Their advantage increases with age too: 25-34 year-olds with tertiary education earn 38% more than their peers with upper secondary education while 45-54 year-olds earn 70% more.
    • While engineering, manufacturing and construction, and information and communication technologies are two fields most commonly associated with the best labour market outcomes, only 14% of graduates earned a degree in the former and 4% earned a degree in the latter in 2017.
    | Education policies: Access and Participation - Tertiary | How is the tertiary-educated population evolving? | Earnings advantage of tertiary-educated workers across generations | Is labour market demand keeping pace with the rising educational attainment of the population? |
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    • Although graduation from upper secondary education increased by 6 percentage points between 2005 and 2017, 15% of 25-34 year-olds did not attain upper secondary education in 2018, on average across OECD countries.
    • In some countries, vocational programmes are prominent at the upper secondary level. On average across OECD countries, 40% of first-time upper secondary graduates earned a vocational qualification in 2017; in Austria, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia, more than 66% of this population did.
    • At the lower secondary level, the average class shrank by 6% while teachers' statutory salaries increased by 8% between 2005 and 2017, on average across OECD countries.
    | Education policies: Access and Participation - Secondary | Transition from school to work | 50 year trends in educational attainment | What are the advantages today of having an upper secondary qualification? |
    Visualisations
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    • In 2017, more than one in three children under the age of three were enrolled in early childhood education and care services, on average across OECD countries - an increase of 7 percentage points compared to 2010.
    • Between the age of 3 to 5, on average across OECD countries, 87% of children are enrolled in pre-primary and primary education.
    • Annual expenditure per child in early childhood development programmes was greater than in pre-primary education in 2016 on average across OECD countries. However, as a share of GDP, expenditure on early childhood development is lower.
    | Education policies: Access and Participation - Early Childhood Education | Starting Strong 2017: Key OECD Indicators on Early Childhood Education and Care | Starting Strong V: Transitions from Early Childhood Education and Care to Primary Education | Who bears the cost of early childhood education and how does it affect enrolment? | Access to early childhood and the participation of women in the labour market |
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    • In 2016, expenditure per tertiary student amounted to USD 15 556, approximately one-third of which was devoted to research and development.
    • Private sources financed more than 30% of the expenditure, on average, at the tertiary level compared to 10% at primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary level.
    • OECD countries spent an average of 3.5% of GDP on primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary institutions in 2016, and public expenditure at this level increased by 18% since 2005.
    | Education policies: Finance and Funding | Who really bears the cost of education? | What influences spending on education? | Does Money Buy Strong Performance in PISA? |
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    • About 10% of primary and secondary teachers are under the age of 30, on average across OECD countries.
    • While the teaching profession is dominated by women, the share of female teachers decreases with the level of education taught: almost all teachers at the pre-primary level are women, however they make up less than half of the teaching force at tertiary level.
    • Salaries tend to increase with the level of education taught, but teachers' earnings remain between 78% and 93% of the earnings of other tertiary-educated adults.
    | Education policies: Teachers | OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) | Teachers' salaries evolution and how they compare to those of tertiary-educated workers | How do primary and secondary teachers compare? |
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    Key
    Country Reviews for South Africa

    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/

    *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 average. 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 2019 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.