HEPI: Higher education and its benefits at all-time high across OECD countries – Education at a Glance 2025

Demand is growing for advanced skills and higher qualifications across OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) member countries, as developed nations transition to more digital and knowledge-intensive economies. This finding is outlined in the OECD's new Education at a Glance report, which this year has a special focus on tertiary education. 

Educational attainment has reached an all-time high, with 48 per cent of young adults in OECD countries now completing tertiary education – up from just 27 per cent in 2000. These individuals tend to enjoy higher earnings, more stable employment, better health and greater civic participation. This growth is, however, slowing – especially since 2021.

The report notes that financial barriers, lack of preparation, and limited academic and social support often hold back disadvantaged students. It also warns that low completion rates – especially among men – undermine the return on public investment, deepen skills shortages and limit access to opportunities.

While underlining how essential highly qualified teachers are for high-performing education systems, the report notes that in some OECD countries – including the UK – teacher shortages and high turnover make it harder to recruit and retain well-trained educators.

The UK is shown to be one of the most attractive destinations for international students, who make up 23 per cent of the total tertiary student population – an increase of six percentage points within a decade, and well above the OECD average of seven percent.

The UK launch of this landmark report is being held in Westminster today by Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's Director for Education and Skills, and is hosted by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and Cambridge University Press & Assessment. 

Pamela Baxter, Managing Director of IELTS at Cambridge University Press & Assessment, said:

The evidence in this report is an unequivocal rebuttal to those who talk down higher education. This puts hard data on what we instinctively know: universities improve economies, lives and livelihoods.  Across the OECD, tertiary education is associated with higher employment rates, better wages, improved social mobility and better health. 

We should celebrate the fact that educational attainment has steadily increased over recent decades across all OECD countries – and that, with 48% of young adults holding a tertiary qualification, it is higher than ever. 

We should also be mindful of the risk of underinvesting in universities, particularly when UK institutions rely so heavily on non-state sources of funding.  

The growth of international student mobility across OECD countries is good news. It is especially pleasing to find that the UK continues to be one of the most attractive destinations for international students – second only the US. That is a strong endorsement of the quality and global reputation of the UK's higher education system. 

Nick Hillman OBE, HEPI's Director, said:

There are lots of ways in which our education system is performing well, indeed better than the systems in some of our competitors. We have been moving up the global league tables for children's educational performance and when it comes to higher education, we have very low drop-out rates and a successful system that puts few - perhaps too few - expectations on taxpayers. Hundreds of thousands of international students are attracted to the UK each year and they prop up the system via their high fees. 

But the OECD's new compendium of comparative facts about education across the developed world also confirms the sad truth that we are performing relatively poorly when it comes to outcomes for lower-skilled people, educational outcomes for men compared to women and teachers' pay. Moreover, we can see the terms and conditions for younger academics lag some way behind what might be reasonably expected for a truly world-class higher education sector. 

Myles McGinley, Managing Director of Cambridge OCR, said:

More than in any other OECD country, attainment at secondary school determines life chances in the UK. Those who succeed have a great chance to thrive in life. For those who leave school without key qualifications, career prospects can be significantly worse than in other rich countries. When a third of students do not achieve a standard pass (grade 4) in GCSE maths, we should be profoundly concerned that they do not have the skills needed for life and work, and determined to make things better. 

With the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the Government has an opportunity to aspire to, and achieve, a better, more inclusive secondary education. Other countries are doing it. England can too.

England has some of the highest teacher turnover rates in the OECD. This is cause for alarm. Our teachers deal with intense workloads, high pressures, limited funding and an overfull curriculum leading to a crowded exam period at 16. This can, and must, change.