Which has higher duration of compulsory education, Sri Lanka or United Kingdom?

Sri Lanka, at 11 years against 11 years in United Kingdom as of 2025.

How many years of comparable data are there for Sri Lanka and United Kingdom?

28 years are reported by both, from 1998 to 2025.

Where does this data come from?

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Duration of compulsory education. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Sri Lanka vs United Kingdom: Duration of compulsory education

Sri Lanka

11 years

in 2025

United Kingdom

11 years

in 2025

Sri Lanka rank

65th

United Kingdom rank

65th

Duration of compulsory education over time

Sri Lanka
United Kingdom

How they compare

Sri Lanka currently reports 11 years against 11 years in United Kingdom, a difference of 0 years.

Across all 28 years both countries report, United Kingdom has been ahead every year.

Sri Lanka ranks 65th and United Kingdom ranks 65th of 205 countries.

United Kingdom has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Sri Lanka	United Kingdom	Difference	Ahead
1990s	9 years	11 years	2 years	United Kingdom
2000s	9 years	11 years	2 years	United Kingdom
2010s	9.8 years	11 years	1.2 years	United Kingdom
2020s	11 years	11 years	0 years	—

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher duration of compulsory education, Sri Lanka or United Kingdom?: Sri Lanka, at 11 years against 11 years in United Kingdom as of 2025.
What is the difference in duration of compulsory education between Sri Lanka and United Kingdom?: 0 years, with Sri Lanka ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Sri Lanka and United Kingdom?: 28 years are reported by both, from 1998 to 2025.
How do Sri Lanka and United Kingdom rank globally for duration of compulsory education?: Sri Lanka ranks 65th and United Kingdom ranks 65th of 205 countries.
Where does this data come from?: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Duration of compulsory education. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Sri Lanka vs United Kingdom: Duration of compulsory education. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 29 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/compare/duration-of-compulsory-education/sri-lanka/united-kingdom/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://education.statizoid.com/compare/duration-of-compulsory-education/sri-lanka/united-kingdom/">Sri Lanka vs United Kingdom: Duration of compulsory education</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Duration of compulsory education
Unit: years
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 205 places, 5,383 data points, 1975–2025
Last refreshed: 28 August 2026

The number of years of compulsory education is based on students starting at the earliest entrance age, studying full-time, and advancing without grade repetition or skipping.