The OECD’s Education at a Glance 2025 is often described as the most important — and most comprehensive — annual publication on global education systems. At more than 500 pages, it is dense with statistics and international comparisons.
Yet, some findings stand out immediately for the UK, and especially for England.
The headline is: the UK continues to perform strongly in higher education, combining high participation, good completion rates, strong labour market outcomes, and continued global appeal. But the report also exposes structural characteristics that merit attention — notably our unusually heavy reliance on private funding and the scale of our international student population in an evolving policy landscape.
Rising attainment levels
Nearly 60% of young adults (25–34-year-olds) in the UK now hold a higher education qualification. That is well above the OECD average of 48%. More strikingly, attainment has risen sharply in recent years: between 2019 and 2024, the UK recorded an 8-percentage-point increase, compared to just 3 points across the OECD as a whole. Only the United States matched this scale of improvement among G7 countries.
This suggests that the UK is not only sustaining high levels of participation but also continuing to grow access at a pace few others can match. In a labour market where demand for high-level skills continues to expand, this is a positive story.
Widening access
The OECD data show that widening participation is not just a political aspiration — it is happening. In England, young adults from families where parents did not complete upper-secondary education are now far more likely to progress to higher education than a decade ago. Attainment for this group has risen from 25% in 2012 to 37% in 2023, a 12-percentage-point increase.
That still leaves a gap compared to more advantaged groups, but it represents one of the strongest improvements in the OECD. For those concerned that higher education remains “elitist,” the data provide a different picture: progress has been real, even if unfinished. On some measures, the majority of students these days are first-in-family, demonstrating the scale of social transformation taking place.
Outcomes: completion, employment and earnings
One reason for the UK’s comparative success is exceptionally low dropout rates. Completion rates for bachelor’s students are among the best in the OECD, with around 80% graduating on time or within a year of the expected timeframe. By contrast, the OECD average is just 59%, meaning the UK significantly outperforms most developed nations in ensuring students successfully complete their studies.
This high completion rate has profound implications for both private and social returns to higher education. For individuals, completing a degree maximises the earnings premium and career opportunities that higher education provides. For society, high completion rates mean that public and private investment in university places translates more effectively into skilled graduates who contribute to economic productivity. Countries with high dropout rates or systems that require students to remain in higher education for extended periods essentially waste educational resources and fail to realise the full economic benefits of their higher education spending. The UK’s success in this area helps explain why the system continues to deliver strong value despite concerns about costs and debt levels.
Employment outcomes are equally robust. In 2024, 90% of tertiary-educated adults in the UK were in work, while only 2.3% were unemployed — one of the lowest rates across the OECD. And the earnings premium remains strong: young graduates earn around 35% more than peers with upper-secondary qualifications, with the premium rising to 57% for those with master’s or doctoral degrees.
So, despite wider concerns about underemployment or graduate debt, the fundamentals hold steady: higher education continues to pay off, both for individuals and for the economy.
Strong but uneven investment
OECD data show that the UK is among the highest spenders on tertiary education when combining government, private and international sources. In 2022, total expenditure per student — including research and development — reached USD 35,350, the third highest in the OECD, behind only Luxembourg and the United States, and well above the OECD average of USD 21,444. However, this figure reflects the distinctive way the UK funds research, with universities rather than separate institutes acting as the main public research performers. As a result, much of this spending is tied to research activity, not teaching. The data should not be interpreted as evidence that UK universities have unusually high levels of resource available for undergraduate teaching — in fact, pressures on teaching budgets remain acute.
At the same time, the composition of funding is distinctive. Public spending per student was only USD 7,895, compared to an OECD average of USD 15,102 — 48% lower and the lowest among the G7. Put differently: the UK has embraced a model where government focuses spending on earlier stages of education, leaving universities more reliant on private income — above all, tuition fees and international student contributions.
Global appeal — with UK-specific pressures
International students are central to this funding model, and here the OECD data underline the UK’s exceptional global position. One in four students in UK higher education is international, compared to an OECD average of one in thirteen. The UK is the second most popular destination among the OECD, just behind the US. Together with the US, Australia, Germany and Canada, the UK attracts nearly two-thirds of all OECD students studying abroad globally, demonstrating the enduring global strength of British universities.
While the OECD does not analyse national immigration regimes, the UK context is important. International students have become critical to the financial sustainability of universities, yet their contribution is increasingly shaped by domestic visa policy. Recent restrictions on dependants have already reduced applications, and further changes proposed in the Immigration Bill could amplify risks. The OECD data highlight the scale of internationalisation in UK higher education — but it is domestic policy that will determine whether this remains a strength or becomes a vulnerability.
Ministerial priorities and the skills gap
The OECD findings were reflected by Jacqui Smith, Minister Of State for Skills and Higher Education, at a recent HEPI event. She has emphasised that skills and higher education must be closer to the centre of government’s opportunity mission.
Her priorities include strengthening further education, addressing teacher recruitment challenges, and tackling basic skills gaps. She has also highlighted the rising number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs), describing this as wasted talent and opportunity.
The contrast with the OECD data is instructive. At the high-skilled end, the UK excels: graduates are numerous, successful, and globally competitive. But the OECD also reveals deeper structural challenges to the UK’s education and training system that threaten this success.
Critical vulnerabilities beneath the success
Despite these achievements, the OECD data expose significant structural weaknesses that require urgent attention. The UK shows the most extreme educational inequality globally, with adults holding below upper-secondary education earning 43% less than those with secondary qualifications—the largest penalty across all OECD countries. This stark divide between highly educated graduates and those left behind represents a fundamental challenge to social cohesion and economic inclusion.
The gender gap in higher education continues widening, with women accounting for 56% of first-time entrants in 2023, up from 55% in 2013, while the OECD average remained static at 54%. Combined with rising male NEET rates, this signals a significant challenging in educational engagement that demands policy attention.
The system’s postgraduate performance remains merely average, with only 17% of young adults holding master’s degrees — matching but not exceeding the OECD average. For a knowledge economy aspiring to compete with the world’s most advanced nations, this represents missed potential in developing the highest-level skills.
The bigger picture
Education at a Glance 2025 confirms that UK higher education remains one of our greatest strategic assets. We are expanding access, maintaining high standards, and sustaining global appeal. But the system’s distinctive characteristics — heavy reliance on private funding, exceptional dependence on international students, and stark inequalities at lower skill levels — create both opportunities and risks.
While the UK’s higher education system continues delivering world-class outcomes for students, society and the economy, sustaining these achievements requires continued investment and deeper collaboration between education, business, and government. The challenge for the Government is to address structural vulnerabilities while preserving the strengths that have made UK higher education a global success story, ensuring our world-leading system continues to serve both national competitiveness and individual opportunity.
The forthcoming Post-16 and Higher Education White Paper, expected this autumn, will be crucial in providing policy clarity on how government intends to navigate these competing pressures. We hope the White Paper will give clarity on key questions: how to maintain financial sustainability while protecting access; whether international student policy will prioritise economic benefits or immigration targets; how to address the skills divide that leaves so many behind; and what level of public investment the government considers appropriate for a world-leading system. The OECD data provides a solid foundation for evidence-based policy making, but the real test will be whether the White Paper can chart a course that maintains the UK’s global leadership while addressing the systemic challenges that threaten long-term sustainability.
Principal Economist, NCUB
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