Policy context
Key indicators such as ‘participation in early childhood education’, ‘early leavers from education and training’ and ‘tertiary educational attainment’ are among the indicators for which the Council resolution on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021-2030) sets EU-level targets, meaning reference levels of European average performance in education and training.
European Education Area
For the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond, 7 EU-level targets have been defined to monitor progress. These refer to reference levels of European average performance in education and training.
| EU-level target and data | Source |
|---|---|
|
Low achieving 15-year-olds in basic skills The share of low-achieving 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics and science should be less than 15%, by 2030. |
OECD/PISA |
|
Low achieving eight-graders in digital skills (data from IEA) The share of low-achieving eight-graders in computer and information literacy should be less than 15%, by 2030. |
IEA/ICILS |
|
Participation in early childhood education At least 96% of children between 3 years old and the starting age for compulsory primary education should participate in early childhood education, by 2030. |
Eurostat/UOE |
|
Early leavers from education and training The share of early leavers from education and training should be less than 9%, by 2030. |
Eurostat/EU-LFS |
|
The share of 25-34 year-olds with tertiary educational attainment should be at least 45%, by 2030. |
Eurostat/EU-LFS |
|
Exposure of VET graduates to work based learning The share of recent graduates from VET benefiting from exposure to work-based learning during their vocational education and training should be at least 60%, by 2025. |
Eurostat/EU-LFS |
|
Participation of adults in learning (EU-LFS data not available yet) You can consult the baseline data from the adult education survey (AES). At least 47% of adults aged 25-64 should have participated in learning during the last 12 months, by 2025. |
Eurostat/EU-LFS |
Additionally, the share of people aged 20 to 24 with at least an upper secondary qualification is a supplementary indicator that complements the EU-level target on early leavers from education and training.
Abbreviations used in the table
- VET: Vocational education and training
- EU-LFS: EU Labour Force Survey
- UOE: UNESCO-OECD-Eurostat data collection on education systems statistics
- IEA: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement
- ICILS: International Computer and Information Literacy Study
- OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- PISA: OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment