Education Trends:Key Indicators on Education in Ireland and Europe
Introduction
The main aim of this publication is to provide a concise set of indicators showing various aspects of educational investment, performance and outcomes over time and across populations of interest to:
- Policy-makers and administrators in education
- Educationalists
- General public
It gives comparable statistics and indicators on education for twenty seven countries. These are the twenty five current Member States of the European and two EEA[1] countries (Iceland and Norway).
The main data source for national data is the Department of Education and Science. The main data source for international comparison data are the Eurostat education data collections built around the joint UOE (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, OECD, Eurostat) tables on pupils and students, teaching staff and finance complemented with special EU tables on enrolment at regional level and foreign language learning in schools. Other Eurostat sources used in the publication include Population statistics, the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the 2003 LFS ad hoc module on lifelong learning, Research and Development statistics, Health Statistics and Economic Statistics. Data from these sources are used to describe the context and main outcomes of education.
Most International data are available from the Eurostat website:
Data extraction: May 2005 - December 2005.
Country abbreviations
| EU-15 European Union | HU Hungary |
| EU-25 European Union from 2004 | MT Malta |
| BE Belgium | NL the Netherlands |
| CZ Czech Republic | AT Austria |
| DK Denmark | PL Poland |
| DE Germany | PT Portugal |
| EE Estonia | SI Slovenia |
| GR Greece | SK Slovak Republic |
| ES Spain | FI Finland |
| FR France | SE Sweden |
| IT Italy | UK United Kingdom |
| IE Ireland | E/W England and Wales |
| CY Cyprus | NIR Northern Ireland |
| LV Latvia | SCT Scotland |
| LT Lithuania | IS Iceland |
| LU Luxembourg | NO Norway |
Symbol used
: data not available
Definition of European Statistical Tools
UOE Education Data Collections
The UOE (UNESCO Institute for Statistics/OECD/Eurostat) data collection is an instrument through which these three organisations jointly collect internationally comparable data on key aspects of education systems on an annual basis using administrative sources. Data are collected according to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), UNESCO, 1997, and cover enrolments, new entrants, graduates, educational personnel and educational expenditure.
In addition, to meet the information needs of the European Commission, Eurostat collects enrolment data by region and on foreign language learning.
Eurostat Population Statistics
Eurostat collects the national demographic data from responses to an annual questionnaire sent to the national statistical institutes. The annual national population estimates are based either on the most recent census or on data extracted from the population register.
The European Labour Force Survey (LFS)
The LFS, which has been carried out annually since 1983, is the principal source of statistics on employment and unemployment in the European Union. This survey is directed at individuals and households. The questions mainly cover the characteristics of employment and job seeking. The definitions are common for all countries and are based in particular on the recommendations of the International Labour Organisation.
The LFS includes questions on participation in education or training during the four weeks prior to the survey and information on the level of education attained according to the ISCED 97 classification.
The 2003 LFS ad hoc module on lifelong learning
Within the 2003 EU Labour Force Survey new data were collected on Lifelong learning. The LFS ad hoc module asked respondents if they had participated in any form of education, training or learning activity over the twelve months preceding the survey. Three forms of such activity were identified: formal (education and training in the regular system of schools, universities and colleges), non-formal (all types of taught learning activities which are not part of a formal education programme) and informal learning (self-learning which is not part of either formal or non-formal education and training, by using different methods like books, computers, learning centres or educational broadcasting).
Eurostat National Accounts
Annual national accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts - ESA 1995. Data cover GDP and its components, final consumption by sector, income, saving and net lending/borrowing, exports and imports.
European Community Household Panel
The European Community Household Panel (ECHP) was a survey based on a standardised questionnaire that involved annual interviewing of a representative sample of households and individuals. It provided comparable social statistics across EU Member States on family and household types, income, employment, as well as various other social indicators concerning living conditions of private households and persons. The annual ECHP surveys covered more than 60 000 households (around 130 000 adults) across Europe.
The longitudinal structure of the ECHP made it possible to follow up and interview the same set of households and individuals over several consecutive years. The total duration of the ECHP was 8 years, running from 1994 to 2001. The reference year for data used in the present publication is 2000.
[1] The agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) was signed in May 1992 and came into force at the beginning of 1994. It is binding on the Member States of the European Union and three of the four countries who are members of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) with the exception of Switzerland. The aim of this agreement is to develop a single market beyond the borders of the EU countries, providing for the free circulation of goods, persons, capital and services.