Compulsory Education in Europe 2012/13

Eurydice Facts and Figures

Education and Training

Compulsory Education in Europe 2012/13

Compulsory Education in Europe 2012/13

Country codes
BE BE fr BE de BE nl BG CZ DK DE EE IE EL ES FR IT CY LV LT LU HU MT NL AT PL Belgium Belgium French Community Belgium German-speaking Community Belgium Flemish Community Bulgaria Czech Republic Denmark Germany Estonia Ireland Greece Spain France Italy Cyprus Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Hungary Malta The Netherlands Austria Poland Acceding country HR Croatia PT RO SI SK FI SE UK UK-ENG UK-WLS UK-NIR UK-SCT Portugal Romania Slovenia Slovakia Finland Sweden The United Kingdom England Wales Northern Ireland Scotland

Candidate countries IS RS TR EFTA countries LI NO CH Iceland Serbia Turkey Countries of the European Free Trade Association Liechtenstein Norway Switzerland

Compulsory Education in Europe 2012/13

Student's age-groups and duration of compulsory education, 2012/13

Full-time Starting age 4 BE fr BE de BE nl BG CZ DK DE (12 Lnder) DE (5 Lnder) EE IE EL ES FR IT CY LV LT LU HU MT NL AT PL PT RO SI SK FI SE UK-ENG/WLS UK-NIR UK-SCT HR IS RS TR LI NO CH (11 cantons) CH (9 cantons) CH (6 cantons) 4 5 4 5 6 6 5 years + 6 months 5 years + 6 months 6 6 6 15 15 15 14 16 14 years + 6 months 17 years + 6 months 15 16 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 7 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 4 5 5 5 6 15 16 18 5 7 5 6 6 6 4 years + 8 months 15 16 16 16 16 16 18 (18) 6 15 16 16 16 6 6 6 6 7 15 16 16 16 5 6 6 6 6 7 15 16 7 14 Ending age 15 15 15 15 16 16 17 18 Part-time Ending age 18 18 18
na na na

Duration of full-time (years) 9 9 9 9 9 10 9 10 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 years + 4 11 9 12 11 (13) 11 13 9 11 12 10 9 10 9 9 11 12 11 8 10 9 12 9 10 9 10 11

months

18 19
na na na na na na na na na na na na na na

18
na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na

Compulsory Education in Europe 2012/13

Germany 12 Lnder: Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen (at Gymnasium), Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein. 5 Lnder Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Nordrhein-Westfalen (at other lower secondary education institutions apart from Gymnasium) and Thueringen.

Hungary Under the Public Education Act of 2011, education will be compulsory only until the age of 16. The change is being phased in: the new lower age (16) will be applied to students starting in grade 9 from the 2012/13 school year; the higher school leaving age (18) will continue to apply to students in the grades above. Switzerland 11 cantons: Aargau, Bern, Graubnden, Solothurn, Ticino, Uri, Vaud and Valais. 9 cantons: Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Lucerne, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schaffhausen, Schwyz and Zug. Basel-Stadt, Fribourg, Geneva, Glarus, Jura, Neuchtel, St. Gallen, Thurgau and Zurich.

6 cantons:

The Eurydice network provides information on and analyses of European education systems and policies. It consists of national units based in 34 countries participating in the EU's Lifelong Learning programme and is co-ordinated and managed by the EU Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency in Brussels, which drafts its publications and databases. The Eurydice network serves mainly those involved in educational policy-making at national, regional and local levels, as well as in the European Union institutions. It focuses primarily on the way education in Europe is structured and organised at all levels. Its publications output may be broadly divided into descriptions of national education systems, comparative studies devoted to specific topics, and indicators and statistics. They are available free of charge on the Eurydice website or in print upon request.

EURYDICE on the Internet http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice