Share of all students in upper secondary … upper both sexes general in United Kingdom
United Kingdom: Share of all students in upper secondary … upper both sexes general was 62.6% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in United Kingdom, 1998–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
United Kingdom recorded 62.6% for share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in 2023.
That represents a change of up 1.5% on the previous year and up 11.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in United Kingdom peaked at 82.8% in 2011 and was at its lowest, 46.9%, in 2016.
That places United Kingdom 145th out of 190 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Share of all students in upper secondary … upper both sexes general in United Kingdom, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 76.1% | — |
| 1999 | 65.8% | -13.5% |
| 2000 | 65.0% | -1.3% |
| 2001 | 65.5% | +0.9% |
| 2002 | 64.0% | -2.3% |
| 2003 | 66.6% | +4.0% |
| 2004 | 61.4% | -7.9% |
| 2005 | 60.6% | -1.3% |
| 2006 | 68.2% | +12.7% |
| 2007 | 67.9% | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 76.4% | +12.5% |
| 2009 | 77.5% | +1.4% |
| 2010 | 76.2% | -1.6% |
| 2011 | 82.8% | +8.7% |
| 2012 | 81.9% | -1.1% |
| 2013 | 56.2% | -31.4% |
| 2014 | 57.3% | +1.9% |
| 2015 | 59.9% | +4.5% |
| 2016 | 46.9% | -21.8% |
| 2017 | 53.4% | +13.9% |
| 2018 | 56.1% | +5.2% |
| 2019 | 58.5% | +4.1% |
| 2020 | 59.9% | +2.5% |
| 2021 | 60.7% | +1.3% |
| 2022 | 61.7% | +1.6% |
| 2023 | 62.6% | +1.5% |
United Kingdom compared with similar countries
- United Kingdom's 62.6% is below the median for high income countries, which is 71.3%, 88% of the median. (72 countries reporting)
- United Kingdom's 62.6% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 59.9%, 1.0× the median. (52 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of all students in upper secondary … upper both sexes general in United Kingdom changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | -31.4% | 81.9% | 56.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 71.0% | 65.8% | 76.1% | 2 |
| 2000s | 67.3% | 60.6% | 77.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 62.9% | 46.9% | 82.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 61.2% | 59.9% | 62.6% | 4 |
Countries ranked near United Kingdom
More education data for United Kingdom
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 388,714 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2012)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 830,495 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 790,556 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 6.40 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 4.86 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.0111 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.071 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in United Kingdom?
- Share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in in United Kingdom was 62.6% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in recorded in United Kingdom?
- The highest recorded value was 82.8% in 2011.
- What is the lowest share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in recorded in United Kingdom?
- The lowest recorded value was 46.9% in 2016.
- How does United Kingdom rank for share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in?
- United Kingdom ranks 145th out of 190 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in rising or falling in United Kingdom?
- Over the last ten years it is up 11.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United Kingdom data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Share of all students in upper secondary education enrolled in general programmes, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release