Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in United Kingdom
United Kingdom: Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school was 96.8% in 2015. ▲ Rising
Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in United Kingdom, 2000–2015
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in United Kingdom is 96.8%, measured in 2015. That is the highest value across all 16 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 8.1% on the previous year and up 42.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in United Kingdom peaked at 96.8% in 2015 and was at its lowest, 55.3%, in 2004.
United Kingdom ranks 19th of 178 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 16 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 71.3% | 55.3% | 78.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 82.1% | 73.7% | 96.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near United Kingdom
More education data for United Kingdom
- Duration of pre-primary education 2 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 63.3% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.0% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 11 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 5 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 102.2% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 281,128 (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.55 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 102.1% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in United Kingdom?
- Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in United Kingdom was 96.8% in 2015, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of children enrolled in pre-primary school recorded in United Kingdom?
- The highest recorded value was 96.8% in 2015.
- What is the lowest share of children enrolled in pre-primary school recorded in United Kingdom?
- The lowest recorded value was 55.3% in 2004.
- How does United Kingdom rank for share of children enrolled in pre-primary school?
- United Kingdom ranks 19th out of 178 countries with data for 2015.
- Is share of children enrolled in pre-primary school rising or falling in United Kingdom?
- Over the last ten years it is up 42.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United Kingdom data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 16 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The share of children of pre-primary school age (typically 3–5 years old) who are enrolled in pre-primary education.