levels of education

• Go to ILO main site

• Country profiles

Concepts and definitions

Database descriptions, statistical standards (resolutions and guidelines), and guides and manuals – all the metadata to better understand the labour statistics presented on ILOSTAT.

Forms of work: An overview of the new statistical standards

An introduction to the conceptual frameworks for forms of work and labour force statistics, including labour underutilization.

ICLS documents

Find resolutions, guidelines, meeting room documents and reports related to the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS).

Labour force survey (LFS) resources

Online resources for data producers to build or improve their labour force survey, such as PAPI and CAPI model questionnaires.

Population Census resources

Online resources for data producers to improve their population census to be in line with the latest international statistical standards for labour.

Labour market information systems (LMIS)

Learn more about LMIS and what the ILO can offer in terms of tools, capacity building activities and technical assistance in labour statistics.

Selected data tools

Bulk download facility

Access all ILOSTAT data, including detailed cross-tabulations and special requests not made available through other data tools. Recommended for researchers!

Quickly find, filter, pivot, map and download data in various formats.

Data explorer

Data catalogues by region

Statistics in Africa

Statistics in the Americas

Statistics in Arab States

Statistics in Asia and the Pacific

Statistics in Europe and Central Asia

International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS)

The ICLS meets every 5 years to establish international standards on labour statistics. The latest (21st) ICLS was held in October 2023.

See the upcoming schedule for major events, training and workshops in labour statistics.

Capacity building and technical assistance

We provide training and support with the implementation of international statistical standards, data production, analysis and dissemination.

Learn about the ILO Department of Statistics’ role in the field of labour statistics, including contributions to capacity building and SDGs.

Standards and guidelines on labour statistics

Learn more about the international standards on labour statistics (a. conventions and recommendations and b. resolutions and guidelines).

LFS research and development

Learn more about the ILO’s programme of methodological research to identify and promote good practices in the collection and reporting of labour statistics.

Data collection and production

Discover the main methods to compile and produce ILOSTAT data: automated data collection, microdata processing and an annual questionnaire.

Dissemination and analysis

Learn about ILOSTAT dissemination tools, including those available to data producers, and analytical products.

Partnerships

The ILO seeks partners to improve the production and dissemination of labour statistics for better evidence-based policy. See our current partnerships.

Get started

Instructions on how to make best use of the ILOSTAT website to find data, methods and resources for labour statistics.

Catalogue of ILOSTAT sources

This catalogue of national data sources presented in ILOSTAT provides an overview of worldwide sources available for labour statistics.

Analytical publications

Find selected publications featuring ILOSTAT data.

Learn about the latest labour statistics trends using ILOSTAT data and get insights into methodological issues.

Home > List of statistical resources > Concepts and definitions > International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED)

• Classification

International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED)

Table of contents, related pages.

Education and Mismatch Indicators (EMI database)

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)

Introduction

The ISCED was designed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the early 1970s to serve as an instrument suitable for assembling, compiling and presenting comparable indicators and statistics of education, both within countries and internationally. The original version of ISCED (ISCED-76) classified educational programmes by their content along two main axes: levels of education and fields of education. The cross-classification variables were maintained in the revised ISCED-97; however, the rules and criteria for allocating programmes to a level of education were clarified and tightened, and the fields of education were further elaborated. In 2011, a new classification ISCED 2011 was introduced; however, reporting according to ISCED-11 did not start until 2014.

Aggregate levels of education

Aggregate levels of education presented in ILOSTAT are based on the following concordances with ISCED-11 and ISCED-97.

X. No schooling 0. Early childhood education 1. Primary education 2. Lower secondary education 3. Upper secondary education 4. Post-secondary non-tertiary education 5. Short-cycle tertiary education 6. Bachelor’s or equivalent level 7. Master’s or equivalent level 8. Doctoral or equivalent level 9. Not elsewhere classified

X. No schooling 0. Pre-primary education 1. Primary education or first stage of basic education 2. Lower secondary or second stage of basic education 3. Upper secondary education 4. Post-secondary non-tertiary education 5. First stage of tertiary education (not leading directly to an advanced research qualification) 6. Second stage of tertiary education (leading to an advanced research qualification) ?. Level not stated

Need help? Click here to email us.

• The leading source of labour statistics