Education: Britain climbs university league
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.British higher education is a big success compared with that in most developed countries, according to an authoritative international survey published yesterday. But we are still trailing in literacy and maths and in the number of children who stay in education after the age of 16.
Universities in the UK have expanded dramatically during the last decade, but the increase has been achieved without a high drop-out rate.
Figures covering 29 countries compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development show that the UK comes fourth in the league of those completing degrees, just behind Australia, the US and Canada.
Around a third of young Britons now attend university, and the figure has doubled in a decade.
The picture is less rosy for those who leave school at 16 than for university students. Three-quarters of young people are still in education at the age of 17, a big improvement on a decade ago, but still well behind countries such as France, Finland and Sweden where the figure is 90 per cent or more.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments