Access to higher education
Published:
18 December 2025
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Data on the percentage of 19 year olds enrolled in education in the UK and internationally, over time.
Summary main findings
62% of 19 year olds in the UK were enrolled in secondary or post-secondary education (including university and college courses) in 2022, compared with 48% in 2010.
Between 2016 and 2022, enrolment rates in the UK were similar to the OECD average. Before then, enrolment rates in OECD countries were consistently higher.
Enrolment rates in the UK have increased since 2010, and reached their peak in 2021 (63%).
The enrolment rate in OECD countries stayed roughly the same between 2010 and 2022, at 61% to 63%.
By year
Visualisation
Percentage of 19 year olds enrolled in secondary or post-secondary education, over time (UK and international averages, 2010 to 2022)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Year | OECD (%) | United Kingdom (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 62.0 | 61.5 |
| 2021 | 61.7 | 63.0 |
| 2020 | 60.5 | 62.4 |
| 2019 | 62.5 | 62.4 |
| 2018 | 61.9 | 61.7 |
| 2017 | 62.4 | 62.7 |
| 2016 | 62.3 | 60.9 |
| 2015 | 62.2 | 57.6 |
| 2014 | 62.0 | 56.5 |
| 2013 | 61.6 | 58.6 |
| 2012 | 61.7 | 53.0 |
| 2011 | 62.3 | 50.2 |
| 2010 | 61.5 | 48.2 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Online Education Database: enrolment by age
Time period
2010 to 2022
Geographic area
UK and OECD countries
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of 19 year olds who enrolled in education in the UK, over time. It also shows the average among OECD countries for comparison.
Secondary and post-secondary education includes college, university, and vocational courses.
The data includes full-time and part-time students. In some OECD countries, part-time education is only partially covered in the data.
Things you need to know
Entry rates are calculated by dividing the number of 19 year old students by the total number of 19 year olds in the population.
Due to small revisions in the OECD estimates, the data on this page is slightly different to previous versions.
Type of data
Administrative data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2025 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 4KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Measure code
- Measure title
- Chart type
- Area code
- Area type
- Area name
- Primary split type
- Primary split value
- Secondary split type
- Secondary split value
- Time period
- Value
- Unit
Page history
Publication release date:
18 December 2025