******* was the European country with the highest share of graduates in 2024, with almost **** of those aged between 15 and 64 having a degree. On the contrary, only ** percent of the population aged 15 to 64 in ********************** hold a tertiary education title.

Percentage of the population aged 25-64 who have successfully completed tertiary studies (e.g. university, higher technical institution, etc.), according to the EU Labour Force Survey. The attainment level refers to ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education) 2011 level 5-8 for data from 2014 onwards and to ISCED 1997 level 5-6 for data up to 2013.

The folder 'population by educational attainment level (edat1)' presents data on the highest level of education successfully completed by the individuals of a given population.

The folder 'transition from education to work (edatt)' covers data on young people neither in employment nor in education and training – NEET, early leavers from education and training and the labour status of young people by years since completion of highest level of education.

The data shown are calculated as annual averages of quarterly EU Labour Force Survey data (EU-LFS).

Up to the reference year 2008, the data source (EU-LFS) is, where necessary, adjusted and enriched in various ways, in accordance with the specificities of an indicator, including the following:

• correction of the main breaks in the LFS series,
• estimation of the missing values, i.e. in case of missing quarters, annual results and EU aggregates are estimated using adjusted quarterly national labour force survey data or interpolations of the EU-LFS data with reference to the available quarter(s).

Details on the adjustments are available in CIRCABC.

The adjustments are applied in the following online tables:

• Population by educational attainment level (edat1)

- Population by educational attainment level, sex and age (%) - main indicators (edat_lfse_03)
- Population by educational attainment level, sex and NUTS 2 regions (%) (edat_lfse_04)

(Other tables shown in the folder 'population by educational attainment level (edat1)' are not adjusted and therefore the results in these tables might differ).

• Young people by educational and labour status (incl. neither in employment nor in education and training - NEET) (edatt0) – all tables
• Early leavers from education and training (edatt1) – all tables
• Labour status of young people by years since completion of highest level of education (edatt2) – all tables

LFS ad-hoc module data available in the folder 'transition from education to work (edatt)' are not adjusted.

The folder 'young people by educational and labour status (incl. neither in employment nor in education and training - NEET) (edatt0)' also presents one table with quarterly NEET data (lfsi_neet_q). Deviating from the NEET indicator calculation as provided in 3.4, the denominator in this table with quarterly data is the total population of the same age group and sex which explains differences in results. For further information, see the ESMS on 'LFS main indicators'.

The average for 2022 based on 26 countries was 80.28 percent. The highest value was in Greece: 166.67 percent and the lowest value was in Luxembourg: 21.03 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) in European Union was reported at 79.73 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. European Union - School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

Around ** percent of Europeans held an upper secondary school title in 2024. Figures ranged from ** percent of people residing in Czechia to only ** percent of Spaniards. About ********* of EU citizens had a primary school title only, while this was the case for ************** of the Turkish population. As far as tertiary education, ** percent of the Irish population held a bachelor's or higher degree, compared to only ** percent of those living in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This domain covers statistics and indicators on key aspects of the education systems across Europe. The data show entrants and enrolments in education levels, education personnel and the cost and type of resources dedicated to education.

For a general technical description of the UOE Data Collection see UNESCO OECD Eurostat (UOE) joint data collection – methodology - Statistics Explained (europa.eu).

The standards on international statistics on education and training systems are set by the three international organisations jointly administering the annual UOE data collection:

• The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation Institute for Statistics (UNESCO-UIS),
• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and,
• The Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT).

The following topics are covered:

• Pupils and students – Enrolments and Entrants,
• Learning mobility,
• Education personnel,
• Education finance,
• Graduates,
• Language learning.

Data on enrolments in education are disseminated in absolute numbers, with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED level of education,
• Sex,
• Age or age group,
• NUTS1 and NUTS2 regions,
• Type of educational institution (public or private) – referred to as the ‘sector’ in Eurobase,
• Intensity of participation (full-time, part-time, full-time equivalent) – referred to as ‘working time’ in Eurobase,
• Programme orientation (general/academic or vocational/professional),
• Type of vocational programme (school-based only or combined school and work-based),
• Level of attainment that can be achieved upon programme completion (e.g. insufficient for level completion or partial level completion, sufficient for partial level completion without direct access to tertiary education),
• Field of education (ISCED-F13).

Additionally, the following types of indicators on enrolments are calculated (all indicators using population data use Eurostat’s population database (demo_pjan)):

• Participation rates by age or by age groups as % of corresponding age population.
• Participation rates by age as % of total population.
• Pupils from age 0, 3, 4 and 5 to the starting age of compulsory education at primary level, as % of the population of the corresponding age. In some countries, the start of primary education is not compulsory and in some countries compulsory education starts at pre-primary level. This indicator calculates the participation rates of pupils up until (but not including) the starting age of formal education that is both compulsory and at the primary level. This age varies from 5 years to 7 years across countries and the national starting ages for compulsory primary education used in the calculation of this indicator are listed in the file Ages_educ_indicators which is available to download in the Annexes section of this page.
• Pupils under the age of 3 as % of corresponding age population. This indicator does not include 3 year olds (includes ages 0, 1 and 2).
• Out-of-school rates at different ages. This indicator is calculated as 100 – (students of a particular age who are enrolled in education at any ISCED level / Total population of that age *100).
  • Out-of-school rates in population of lower secondary school age and in population of upper secondary school age. This indicator is calculated as 100 – (students who are of the official age range for ISCED X who are enrolled in education at any ISCED level / Total population in the official age range for ISCED X *100). The official age range for each ISCED level varies across countries, and national age ranges for lower and upper secondary used in the calculation of this indicator are listed in the file Ages_educ_indicators which is available to download in the Annexes section of this page.
  • Students in education of post-compulsory school age - as % of the total population of post-compulsory school age. The final age at which formal education is considered as compulsory in national education systems in the calculation of this indicator are listed in the file Ages_educ_indicators.
  • Students participation at the end of compulsory education - as % of the corresponding age population. Indicator is calculated for age (X-1), (X), (X+1), (X+2) where X = the final age at which formal education is compulsory in national education systems. The final age at which formal education is considered as compulsory in national education systems in the calculation of this indicator are listed in the file Ages_educ_indicators.
  • Students in education aged 30 and over - per 1000 of corresponding age population
    • Expected school years of pupils and students at different levels of education
    • Distribution of pupils and students enrolled in general and vocational programmes by education level and NUTS2 regions
    • Distribution of students in different fields of education
    • Ratio of the proportion of the population who are tertiary students in NUTS1 regions to the proportion of the population who are tertiary students in NUTS2 regions

Data on entrants in education are disseminated in absolute numbers, with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED level of education,
• Programme orientation (general/academic or vocational/professional),
• Sex,
• Age or age group,
• Field of education (ISCED-F13).

Additionally the following indicator on entrants is calculated:

• Distribution of new entrants in different fields of education.

Data on learning mobility is available for degree mobile students, degree mobile graduates and credit mobile graduates. Degree mobility means that students/graduates are/were enrolled as regular students in any semester/term of a programme taught in the country of destination with the intention of graduating from it in the country of destination. Credit mobility is defined as temporary tertiary education or/and study-related traineeship abroad within the framework of enrolment in a tertiary education programme at a "home institution" (usually) for the purpose of gaining academic credit (i.e. credit that will be recognised in that home institution). Further definitions are in Section 2.8 of the UOE manual.

Degree mobile students are referred to as just ‘mobile students’ in UOE learning mobility tables. Data is disseminated for degree mobile students and degree mobile graduates in absolute numbers with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED level of education,
• Sex,
• Field of education (ISCED-F13),
• Country of origin (defined as the country of education prior to entering tertiary although there may be national deviations. These are listed in the Helpsheet of the latest footnotes report available to download in the Annexes section of this page) – referred to as ‘Geopolitical entity (partner)’ in Eurobase.

Additionally the following types of indicators on degree mobile students and degree mobile graduates are calculated ((all indicators using population data use Eurostat’s population database (demo_pjan)):

• Share of all students/graduates who are mobile students/degree mobile graduates from abroad,
• Distribution of mobile students/degree mobile graduates from abroad in different fields of education.

For credit mobile graduates, data are disseminated in absolute numbers, with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED level of education,
• Sex,
• Type of mobility scheme (e.g. Credit mobility under EU programmes i.e. ERASMUS, Credit mobility in other international/national programmes),
• Type of mobility (study period only or study period combined with work placement),
• Country of destination – referred to as ‘Geopolitical entity (partner)’ in Eurobase.

Data on personnel in education are available for classroom teachers/academic staff, teacher aides and school-management personnel. Teachers are employed in a professional capacity to guide and direct the learning experiences of students, irrespective of their training, qualifications or delivery mechanism. Teacher aides support teachers in providing instruction to students. Academic staff are personnel employed at the tertiary level of education whose primary assignment is instruction and/or research. School management personnel covers professional personnel who are responsible for school management/administration (ISCED 0-4) or whose primary or major responsibility is the management of the institution, or a recognised department or subdivision of the institution (tertiary levels). Full definitions of these statistical units are in Section 3.5 of the UOE manual.

Data are disseminated on teachers and academic staff in absolute numbers, with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED

Percentage of students in tertiary education who are female (%) in European Union was reported at 54.04 % in 2018, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. European Union - Percentage of students in tertiary education who are female - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

European Union - Tertiary educational attainment, age group 30-34 was 44.70% in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for European Union - Tertiary educational attainment, age group 30-34 - last updated from the EUROSTAT on October of 2025. Historically, European Union - Tertiary educational attainment, age group 30-34 reached a record high of 44.70% in December of 2024 and a record low of 27.20% in December of 2005.

Ireland and Luxembourg were the European countries with the highest share of graduates aged 30 to 34 in 2024, with two thirds of people in this age group having a degree. Countries such as Italy, Bosnia, and Romania had the lowest share of graduates in this age group at 30.7, 28.2, and 23.6 percent respectively.

The share of the population aged 30-34 years who have successfully completed university or university-like (tertiary-level) education with an education level ISCED 1997 (International Standard Classification of Education) of 5-6.

This dataset shows the proportion of the European population aged 30-34 with a tertiary educational attainment during the 2011-2013 period at regional level. A well-educated workforce is key to prosperity. There tends to be a strong correlation between the educational attainment of a region’s workforce and median earnings in the region. In addition, attaining a relatively high education level tends to mean less risk of being unemployed. The Europe 2020 strategy is aimed at increasing the share of the population aged 30–34 with tertiary education to 40% by 2020. Member States have set national targets for this varying from 26% (in Italy) to 60% (in Ireland). In the EU-27, the share increased significantly between 2008 and 2012 from 31% to 36%, suggesting that the Union-wide target of 40% should be achievable without much difficulty. % of population aged 30-34 EU-28 = 35.7; Source: Eurostat, DG REGIO

This domain covers statistics and indicators on key aspects of the education systems across Europe. The data show entrants and enrolments in education levels, education personnel and the cost and type of resources dedicated to education.

For a general technical description of the UOE Data Collection see UNESCO OECD Eurostat (UOE) joint data collection – methodology - Statistics Explained (europa.eu).

The standards on international statistics on education and training systems are set by the three international organisations jointly administering the annual UOE data collection:

• The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation Institute for Statistics (UNESCO-UIS),
• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and,
• The Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT).

The following topics are covered:

• Pupils and students – Enrolments and Entrants,
• Learning mobility,
• Education personnel,
• Education finance,
• Graduates,
• Language learning.

Data on enrolments in education are disseminated in absolute numbers, with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED level of education,
• Sex,
• Age or age group,
• NUTS1 and NUTS2 regions,
• Type of educational institution (public or private) – referred to as the ‘sector’ in Eurobase,
• Intensity of participation (full-time, part-time, full-time equivalent) – referred to as ‘working time’ in Eurobase,
• Programme orientation (general/academic or vocational/professional),
• Type of vocational programme (school-based only or combined school and work-based),
• Level of attainment that can be achieved upon programme completion (e.g. insufficient for level completion or partial level completion, sufficient for partial level completion without direct access to tertiary education),
• Field of education (ISCED-F13).

Additionally, the following types of indicators on enrolments are calculated (all indicators using population data use Eurostat’s population database (demo_pjan)):

• Participation rates by age or by age groups as % of corresponding age population.
• Participation rates by age as % of total population.
• Pupils from age 0, 3, 4 and 5 to the starting age of compulsory education at primary level, as % of the population of the corresponding age. In some countries, the start of primary education is not compulsory and in some countries compulsory education starts at pre-primary level. This indicator calculates the participation rates of pupils up until (but not including) the starting age of formal education that is both compulsory and at the primary level. This age varies from 5 years to 7 years across countries and the national starting ages for compulsory primary education used in the calculation of this indicator are listed in the file Ages_educ_indicators which is available to download in the Annexes section of this page.
• Pupils under the age of 3 as % of corresponding age population. This indicator does not include 3 year olds (includes ages 0, 1 and 2).
• Out-of-school rates at different ages. This indicator is calculated as 100 – (students of a particular age who are enrolled in education at any ISCED level / Total population of that age *100).
  • Out-of-school rates in population of lower secondary school age and in population of upper secondary school age. This indicator is calculated as 100 – (students who are of the official age range for ISCED X who are enrolled in education at any ISCED level / Total population in the official age range for ISCED X *100). The official age range for each ISCED level varies across countries, and national age ranges for lower and upper secondary used in the calculation of this indicator are listed in the file Ages_educ_indicators which is available to download in the Annexes section of this page.
  • Students in education of post-compulsory school age - as % of the total population of post-compulsory school age. The final age at which formal education is considered as compulsory in national education systems in the calculation of this indicator are listed in the file Ages_educ_indicators.
  • Students participation at the end of compulsory education - as % of the corresponding age population. Indicator is calculated for age (X-1), (X), (X+1), (X+2) where X = the final age at which formal education is compulsory in national education systems. The final age at which formal education is considered as compulsory in national education systems in the calculation of this indicator are listed in the file Ages_educ_indicators.
  • Students in education aged 30 and over - per 1000 of corresponding age population
    • Expected school years of pupils and students at different levels of education
    • Distribution of pupils and students enrolled in general and vocational programmes by education level and NUTS2 regions
    • Distribution of students in different fields of education
    • Ratio of the proportion of the population who are tertiary students in NUTS1 regions to the proportion of the population who are tertiary students in NUTS2 regions

Data on entrants in education are disseminated in absolute numbers, with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED level of education,
• Programme orientation (general/academic or vocational/professional),
• Sex,
• Age or age group,
• Field of education (ISCED-F13).

Additionally the following indicator on entrants is calculated:

• Distribution of new entrants in different fields of education.

Data on learning mobility is available for degree mobile students, degree mobile graduates and credit mobile graduates. Degree mobility means that students/graduates are/were enrolled as regular students in any semester/term of a programme taught in the country of destination with the intention of graduating from it in the country of destination. Credit mobility is defined as temporary tertiary education or/and study-related traineeship abroad within the framework of enrolment in a tertiary education programme at a "home institution" (usually) for the purpose of gaining academic credit (i.e. credit that will be recognised in that home institution). Further definitions are in Section 2.8 of the UOE manual.

Degree mobile students are referred to as just ‘mobile students’ in UOE learning mobility tables. Data is disseminated for degree mobile students and degree mobile graduates in absolute numbers with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED level of education,
• Sex,
• Field of education (ISCED-F13),
• Country of origin (defined as the country of education prior to entering tertiary although there may be national deviations. These are listed in the Helpsheet of the latest footnotes report available to download in the Annexes section of this page) – referred to as ‘Geopolitical entity (partner)’ in Eurobase.

Additionally the following types of indicators on degree mobile students and degree mobile graduates are calculated ((all indicators using population data use Eurostat’s population database (demo_pjan)):

• Share of all students/graduates who are mobile students/degree mobile graduates from abroad,
• Distribution of mobile students/degree mobile graduates from abroad in different fields of education.

For credit mobile graduates, data are disseminated in absolute numbers, with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED level of education,
• Sex,
• Type of mobility scheme (e.g. Credit mobility under EU programmes i.e. ERASMUS, Credit mobility in other international/national programmes),
• Type of mobility (study period only or study period combined with work placement),
• Country of destination – referred to as ‘Geopolitical entity (partner)’ in Eurobase.

Data on personnel in education are available for classroom teachers/academic staff, teacher aides and school-management personnel. Teachers are employed in a professional capacity to guide and direct the learning experiences of students, irrespective of their training, qualifications or delivery mechanism. Teacher aides support teachers in providing instruction to students. Academic staff are personnel employed at the tertiary level of education whose primary assignment is instruction and/or research. School management personnel covers professional personnel who are responsible for school management/administration (ISCED 0-4) or whose primary or major responsibility is the management of the institution, or a recognised department or subdivision of the institution (tertiary levels). Full definitions of these statistical units are in Section 3.5 of the UOE manual.

Data are disseminated on teachers and academic staff in absolute numbers, with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED

Graph and download economic data for Ratio of Female to Male Tertiary School Enrollment for the European Union (SEENRTERTFMZSEUU) from 1970 to 2023 about enrolled, EU, ratio, females, tertiary schooling, males, Europe, and education.

This statistic shows the share of the population aged 25 and over who had attained a upper secondary or tertiary education in the European Union from 2007 to 2016. The peak for this period was in 2016 when ** percent of those ** and over had attained such a level.

The indicator is defined as the percentage of the population aged 30-34 who have successfully completed tertiary studies (e.g. university, higher technical institution, etc.). This educational attainment refers to ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education) 2011 level 5-8 for data from 2014 onwards and to ISCED 1997 level 5-6 for data up to 2013. The indicator is based on the EU Labour Force Survey. (i) More information on national targets can be found here

France - Tertiary educational attainment was 48.80% in December of 2020, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for France - Tertiary educational attainment - last updated from the EUROSTAT on October of 2025. Historically, France - Tertiary educational attainment reached a record high of 48.80% in December of 2020 and a record low of 20.80% in December of 1993.

This repository contains a dataset of higher education institutions in France. This includes 349 higher education institutions in France, including universities, universities of applied sciences and Higher Institutes as Higher Institute of Engineering, Higher Institute of biotechnologies and few others. This dataset was compiled in response to a cybersecurity investigation of France higher education institutions' websites [1]. The data is being made publicly available to promote open science principles [2].

The data includes the following fields for each institution:

• ETER_Id: A unique identifier assigned to each institution.
• Name: The full name of the institution.
• Category: Indicates whether the institution is public or private.
• Institution_Category_Standardized: Indicates whether the institution is University, University of applied sciences or other.
• Member_of_European_University_alliance: Indicates if the institution is member of European University Alliance (A kind of collaborative higher education institutions network in Europe).
• Url: The website of the institution.
• NUTS2: Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS): A classification by the European Union to divide member states' territories into statistical units. The NUTS system has three hierarchical levels, with NUTS2 being the second level.
• NUTS2_Label_2016: Refers to the classification of regions at the NUTS2 level according to the 2016 criteria set by the European Union.
• NUTS2_Label_2021: Refers to the classification of regions at the NUTS2 level according to the 2021 criteria set by the European Union.
• NUTS3: Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS): A classification by the European Union to divide member states' territories into statistical units. The NUTS system has three hierarchical levels, with NUTS3 being the third level.
• NUTS3_Label_2016: Refers to the classification of regions at the NUTS3 level according to the 2016 criteria set by the European Union.
• NUTS3_Label_2021: Refers to the classification of regions at the NUTS3 level according to the 2021 criteria set by the European Union.

The methodology for creating the dataset involved obtaining data from two sources: The European Higher Education Sector Observatory (ETER)[3]. The data was collected on December 26, 2024, the Eurostat for NUTS - Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics 2013-16[4] and 2021[5].

This section outlines the methodology used to create the dataset for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in France. The dataset consolidates information from various sources, processes the data, and enriches it to provide accurate and reliable insights.

Data Sources

1. ETER Database: The primary dataset was sourced from the ETER database, containing detailed information about HEIs in Europe.
   • File: eter-export-2021-FR.xlsx
2. Eurostat NUTS Data: Two datasets from Eurostat were used for regional information:
   • NUTS 2013-2016 regions: NUTS2013-NUTS2016.xlsx
   • NUTS 2021 regions: NUTS2021.xlsx

Data Cleaning and Preprocessing Column Renaming Columns in the raw dataset were renamed for consistency and readability. Examples include:

• ETER ID → ETER_ID
• Institution Name → Name
• Legal status → Category

Value Replacement

1. HEI Categories: The Category column was cleaned, with government-dependent institutions classified as "public."
2. Standardized Institution Categories: Mapped numerical values to descriptive labels such as "University" and "University of applied sciences."
3. European University Alliance Membership: Replaced binary values with "Yes" or "No."

Handling Missing or Incorrect Data

1. Specific entries with missing or incorrect data were updated manually based on their ETER_ID. For instance:
   • Adjusted URLs for entries like FR0333 (updated to www.icam.fr)
   • Adjusted URLs for entries like FR0906 (updated to epss.fr)
   • Adjusted URLs for entries like FR0104 (updated to www.ensa-nancy.fr)
   • Adjusted URLs for entries like FR0466 (updated to www.clermont-auvergne-inp.fr)
   • Adjusted URLs for entries like FR0907 (updated to insp.gouv.fr) - This universety also changed your name for Institut national du service public
   • Removed entries such as FR0129 and FR0944 due to insufficient or invalid information.
   • Removed FR0513 Institut supérieur européen de gestion Lyon because it's the same url and school of Paris, so remains only the main campus in Paris
   • Remove FR0235 Institut supérieur de l'électronique et du numérique Toulon, because it's the same url of Institut supérieur de l'électronique et du numérique Lille, so remains only the main campus
   • Remove FR0106 and FR010 École spéciale militaire, because it's the url returns 403 forbiden
   • Remove FR0970 École nationale de la meteorologie beucase of invalid HTTPS

Regional Data Integration

1. Merged NUTS 2016 and NUTS 2021 data to enrich the dataset with regional labels.

Final Dataset The final dataset was saved as a CSV file: france-heis.csv, encoded in UTF-8 for compatibility. It includes detailed information about HEIs in France, their categories, regional affiliations, and membership in European alliances.

Summary This methodology ensures that the dataset is accurate, consistent, and enriched with valuable regional and institutional details. The final dataset is intended to serve as a reliable resource for analyzing French HEIs.

This data is available under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license and can be used for any purpose, including academic research purposes. We encourage the sharing of knowledge and the advancement of research in this field by adhering to open science principles [2].

If you use this data in your research, please cite the source and include a link to this repository. To properly attribute this data, please use the following DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7614862

If you have any updates or corrections to the data, please feel free to open a pull request or contact us directly. Let's work together to keep this data accurate and up-to-date.

We would like to acknowledge the support of the Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), within the project "Cybers SeC IP" (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000044). This study was also developed as part of the Master in Cybersecurity Program at the Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Portugal.

1. Pending
2. S. Bezjak, A. Clyburne-Sherin, P. Conzett, P. Fernandes, E. Görögh, K. Helbig, B. Kramer, I. Labastida, K. Niemeyer, F. Psomopoulos, T. Ross-Hellauer, R. Schneider, J. Tennant, E. Verbakel, H. Brinken, and L. Heller, Open Science Training Handbook. Zenodo, Apr. 2018. [Online]. Available: [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1212496]
3. The European Higher Education Sector Observatory, Dec 2024. Available: ETER
4. NUTS - Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics, Dec 2024. Available: NUTS-2013-2016
5. NUTS - Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics, Dec 2024. Available: NUTS-2021.

Revenue in the Higher Education industry in Europe is anticipated to expand at a compound annual rate of 0.7% to €148.2 billion over the five years through 2025, with a 0.2% rise in revenue in 2025. Higher education remains an extremely popular option for school leavers, which supports the demand for places. Institutions rely heavily on individual government funding, with donations and student contributions making up the rest. There is a growing number of students across Europe, with 18.8 million students in higher education last reported by the European Commission in 2022. The increasing student population boosted demand for higher education places, supporting enrollment in universities across Europe and improving revenue figures. The COVID-19 outbreak severely hindered European higher education operations in 2020 and 2021. With most face-to-face teaching switched to online teaching, universities had to invest heavily in the equipment and online education tools to keep courses running remotely while reimbursing accommodation fees, which cut into profit. Enrolments in universities throughout Europe have surged since 2021 due to people deferring during the outbreak, uncertainty over hiring chances in the job market and EU targets to increase university uptake by 2030. Revenue is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 0.7% to €153.4 billion over the five years through 2030. Governments throughout Europe are targeting greater enrolment in higher education since many countries are facing a growing skill gap in their labour markets. A growing demand for specific skills in the labour market will encourage attendance at higher education colleges, boosting revenue.

This domain covers statistics and indicators on key aspects of the education systems across Europe. The data show entrants and enrolments in education levels, education personnel and the cost and type of resources dedicated to education.

For a general technical description of the UOE Data Collection see UNESCO OECD Eurostat (UOE) joint data collection – methodology - Statistics Explained (europa.eu).

The standards on international statistics on education and training systems are set by the three international organisations jointly administering the annual UOE data collection:

• The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation Institute for Statistics (UNESCO-UIS),
• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and,
• The Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT).

The following topics are covered:

• Pupils and students – Enrolments and Entrants,
• Learning mobility,
• Education personnel,
• Education finance,
• Graduates,
• Language learning.

Data on enrolments in education are disseminated in absolute numbers, with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED level of education,
• Sex,
• Age or age group,
• NUTS1 and NUTS2 regions,
• Type of educational institution (public or private) – referred to as the ‘sector’ in Eurobase,
• Intensity of participation (full-time, part-time, full-time equivalent) – referred to as ‘working time’ in Eurobase,
• Programme orientation (general/academic or vocational/professional),
• Type of vocational programme (school-based only or combined school and work-based),
• Level of attainment that can be achieved upon programme completion (e.g. insufficient for level completion or partial level completion, sufficient for partial level completion without direct access to tertiary education),
• Field of education (ISCED-F13).

Additionally, the following types of indicators on enrolments are calculated (all indicators using population data use Eurostat’s population database (demo_pjan)):

• Participation rates by age or by age groups as % of corresponding age population.
• Participation rates by age as % of total population.
• Pupils from age 0, 3, 4 and 5 to the starting age of compulsory education at primary level, as % of the population of the corresponding age. In some countries, the start of primary education is not compulsory and in some countries compulsory education starts at pre-primary level. This indicator calculates the participation rates of pupils up until (but not including) the starting age of formal education that is both compulsory and at the primary level. This age varies from 5 years to 7 years across countries and the national starting ages for compulsory primary education used in the calculation of this indicator are listed in the file Ages_educ_indicators which is available to download in the Annexes section of this page.
• Pupils under the age of 3 as % of corresponding age population. This indicator does not include 3 year olds (includes ages 0, 1 and 2).
• Out-of-school rates at different ages. This indicator is calculated as 100 – (students of a particular age who are enrolled in education at any ISCED level / Total population of that age *100).
  • Out-of-school rates in population of lower secondary school age and in population of upper secondary school age. This indicator is calculated as 100 – (students who are of the official age range for ISCED X who are enrolled in education at any ISCED level / Total population in the official age range for ISCED X *100). The official age range for each ISCED level varies across countries, and national age ranges for lower and upper secondary used in the calculation of this indicator are listed in the file Ages_educ_indicators which is available to download in the Annexes section of this page.
  • Students in education of post-compulsory school age - as % of the total population of post-compulsory school age. The final age at which formal education is considered as compulsory in national education systems in the calculation of this indicator are listed in the file Ages_educ_indicators.
  • Students participation at the end of compulsory education - as % of the corresponding age population. Indicator is calculated for age (X-1), (X), (X+1), (X+2) where X = the final age at which formal education is compulsory in national education systems. The final age at which formal education is considered as compulsory in national education systems in the calculation of this indicator are listed in the file Ages_educ_indicators.
  • Students in education aged 30 and over - per 1000 of corresponding age population
    • Expected school years of pupils and students at different levels of education
    • Distribution of pupils and students enrolled in general and vocational programmes by education level and NUTS2 regions
    • Distribution of students in different fields of education
    • Ratio of the proportion of the population who are tertiary students in NUTS1 regions to the proportion of the population who are tertiary students in NUTS2 regions

Data on entrants in education are disseminated in absolute numbers, with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED level of education,
• Programme orientation (general/academic or vocational/professional),
• Sex,
• Age or age group,
• Field of education (ISCED-F13).

Additionally the following indicator on entrants is calculated:

• Distribution of new entrants in different fields of education.

Data on learning mobility is available for degree mobile students, degree mobile graduates and credit mobile graduates. Degree mobility means that students/graduates are/were enrolled as regular students in any semester/term of a programme taught in the country of destination with the intention of graduating from it in the country of destination. Credit mobility is defined as temporary tertiary education or/and study-related traineeship abroad within the framework of enrolment in a tertiary education programme at a "home institution" (usually) for the purpose of gaining academic credit (i.e. credit that will be recognised in that home institution). Further definitions are in Section 2.8 of the UOE manual.

Degree mobile students are referred to as just ‘mobile students’ in UOE learning mobility tables. Data is disseminated for degree mobile students and degree mobile graduates in absolute numbers with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED level of education,
• Sex,
• Field of education (ISCED-F13),
• Country of origin (defined as the country of education prior to entering tertiary although there may be national deviations. These are listed in the Helpsheet of the latest footnotes report available to download in the Annexes section of this page) – referred to as ‘Geopolitical entity (partner)’ in Eurobase.

Additionally the following types of indicators on degree mobile students and degree mobile graduates are calculated ((all indicators using population data use Eurostat’s population database (demo_pjan)):

• Share of all students/graduates who are mobile students/degree mobile graduates from abroad,
• Distribution of mobile students/degree mobile graduates from abroad in different fields of education.

For credit mobile graduates, data are disseminated in absolute numbers, with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED level of education,
• Sex,
• Type of mobility scheme (e.g. Credit mobility under EU programmes i.e. ERASMUS, Credit mobility in other international/national programmes),
• Type of mobility (study period only or study period combined with work placement),
• Country of destination – referred to as ‘Geopolitical entity (partner)’ in Eurobase.

Data on personnel in education are available for classroom teachers/academic staff, teacher aides and school-management personnel. Teachers are employed in a professional capacity to guide and direct the learning experiences of students, irrespective of their training, qualifications or delivery mechanism. Teacher aides support teachers in providing instruction to students. Academic staff are personnel employed at the tertiary level of education whose primary assignment is instruction and/or research. School management personnel covers professional personnel who are responsible for school management/administration (ISCED 0-4) or whose primary or major responsibility is the management of the institution, or a recognised department or subdivision of the institution (tertiary levels). Full definitions of these statistical units are in Section 3.5 of the UOE manual.

Data are disseminated on teachers and academic staff in absolute numbers, with breakdowns available for the following dimensions:

• ISCED