ministry of education uk

Blog The Education Hub

https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2021/06/02/how-weve-supported-the-education-sector-during-the-pandemic/

How we’ve supported the education sector during the pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has created challenges across the entire education system. Throughout, we have acted swiftly to help minimise the impact on pupils’ education and provided extensive support for schools, colleges and early years settings.

Here are the key education milestones from the pandemic.

18 March 2020

In response to the pandemic, restrictions were announced by the Education Secretary.

This meant most children were going to be educated at home with schools remaining open to vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers.

This was different to the approach taken in some countries like Italy, France and Germany where schools closed to all pupils, regardless of their circumstances.

19 March 2020

At a press conference the Education Secretary set out his commitment to making sure all pupils could go back to attending school as soon as it was safe to do so. He said:

I want nothing more than to get schools back to normal, making sure that children are sat around learning and experiencing the joy of being at school.

At the same time, it was announced that vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils would receive  free laptops  to help them learn from home.

20 April 2020

The Oak National Academy – an online learning platform delivering lessons that schools could make available to their pupils - was launched. To support remote education, the department made £4.84 million available for Oak. The funding supported Oak to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception up to Year 11.

Since then,  over 128 million Oak lessons have been viewed by pupils across the country .

21 May 2020

As part of the Prime Minister’s virtual summit on hidden harms, the Education Secretary announced  £6.5 million to involve more than 150 schools in a project that will place social workers at the heart of schools .

Part of a wider funding package of nearly £10 million to boost the educational outcomes of vulnerable children, social workers have been able to support teaching staff in identifying the children most at risk throughout the pandemic.

1 June 2020

Schools, colleges and nurseries began to reopen. This  phased reopening  meant, as the Education Secretary promised, more pupils were able to access face-to-face education.

As a result,  1.6m pupils attended school and college  by the end of June.

19 June 2020

T he Prime Minister and the Education Secretary announced the  £1bn Covid Catch Up plan to tackle lost learning time . This included a £650 million catch up premium for the academic year for 2020 to help schools support all pupils.

Since then, we have gone on to set out exactly what this will mean in practice – with young people getting free tutoring, holiday clubs and much more.

Education Secretary @GavinWilliamson talks about our hugely ambitious catch-up plans for pupils affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. https://t.co/ej8xPe8fd8 pic.twitter.com/cIxpL57q7O — Department for Education (@educationgovuk) June 19, 2020

15 September 2020

On 15 September , 99.9% of schools reopened their doors  following the summer holidays.

19 November 2020

On 19 November the Department launched  the £350 million National Tutoring Programme , a landmark government funded, sector-led initiative designed to support schools and address the impact of Covid-19 on pupils’ progress and learning.

Since its launch, over  227,000 pupils have been enrolled  to receive tutoring, and over 25,000 tutors are supporting pupils across England.

20 December 2020

The Department met its commitment of  delivering 500,000 laptops to pupils by Christmas  – while setting out its intention to deliver more than 1million in total.

5 January 2021

Based on the latest scientific data, new restrictions were announced. This meant most pupils returned to home schooling.

As in the first period of restrictions,  schools remained open to vulnerable children and children of critical workers . Unlike the first period of restrictions nurseries remained open.

The following day, the Education Secretary announced that it was no longer fair for exams to go  ahead as planned – 6 months ahead of when they were due to be taken.

16 February 2021

The total number of laptops delivered was taller than Mount Everest, heavier than almost 200 elephants and enough for every person in Liverpool and Leicester combined as  the Government hailed the delivery over one million devices  to those who needed them most.

We've now delivered over one million laptops & tablets, helping young people access remote education during the pandemic. By working together with schools, teachers and the tech sector, we're on course to deliver our commitment of 1.3 million devices. pic.twitter.com/Nui9Shy5RP — Department for Education (@educationgovuk) February 16, 2021

25 February 2021

 The Government announced a further £700 million of catch up funding   – taking the total to £1.7 billion to support children in education across the country.

It was also announced that  students would receive grades determined by teachers , and will only be assessed on what they have been taught, not what they may have missed.

8 March 2021

In March, schools across England reopened their doors to their remaining pupils and mass testing to keep settings safe began. Since then, more than 40 million tests have been conducted.

By 16   March, 99.9% of schools had reopened along with  94% of primary pupils and 89% of secondary pupils in school  in attendance.

2 June 2021

The department announced a huge boost for tutoring in the latest step of the government’s education recovery plan .

We’re announcing a huge expansion of tuition to help children who need it to catch up on missed learning. Pupils at @FirthParkAcad in Sheffield have already seen the benefits that extra support has made to their education since returning after lockdown. pic.twitter.com/4PoiGmEIGL — Department for Education (@educationgovuk) June 2, 2021

This expansion included: £1 billion for the National Tutoring Programme to support up to 6 million, 15-hour tutoring courses for disadvantaged school children; a further £250 million to help give 500,000 teachers world-leading training; £400 million to help give early years practitioners and 500,000 school teachers across the country training and support and; funding for schools and colleges to give some year 13 students the option to repeat their final year.

The latest announcement builds on the £1.7 billion already announced to help children catch up on what they missed during the pandemic, which includes summer schools and mental health support, bringing total investment to over £3 billion.

Education has remained a national priority for the Government throughout the pandemic and we have continued to provide support to build back better. For all of our support and how are policies have affected Education, please visit  the Education Hub .

Sharing and comments

Share this page, related content and links, about the education hub.

The Education Hub is a site for parents, pupils, education professionals and the media that captures all you need to know about the education system. You’ll find accessible, straightforward information on popular topics, Q&As, interviews, case studies, and more.

Please note that for media enquiries, journalists should call our central Newsdesk on 020 7783 8300. This media-only line operates from Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm. Outside of these hours the number will divert to the duty media officer.

Members of the public should call our general enquiries line on 0370 000 2288.

Sign up and manage updates

Follow us on social media, search by date, comments and moderation policy.

Beta This is a new service – your feedback will help us to improve it.

• Education and training statistics for the UK

Higher education student figures for 2018/19 have been corrected.

Introduction

This release compiles information on education systems across the United Kingdom. Education is devolved in the UK, so each part of the United Kingdom has a separate education system, with different attainment measures.

In this release, there are sections focusing on the school system: numbers of schools, pupils and teachers; pupil teacher ratios; and a section on attendance during the coronavirus outbreak.

This is followed by sections looking at post-compulsory education, which includes the number of further and higher education institutions, the number of staff and the number of students. There is also a section on young adults (aged between 16-24) who are not in education or employment.

The next sections focus on students’ qualifications, typically taken at ages 16 and 18, as well as the highest qualifications held by adults in the UK (aged 19-64).

Finally there is a section showing government education expenditure in the UK.

Headline facts and figures - 2020

• Pupil-teacher ratios in maintained schools were lowest in Scotland ( 13.6 ) and similar in England ( 18.2 ) , Wales ( 19.3 ) and Northern Ireland ( 18.3 ).
• Females outperform males in the main measures of attainment across the UK, make up a greater share of higher education students ( 57% ) and have a higher level of qualification among 19-64 year olds ( 46% with NQF level 4 or above compared to 42% for males).

Explore data and files used in this release

View or create your own tables.

View tables that we have built for you, or create your own tables from open data using our table tool

Data catalogue

Browse and download open data files from this release in our data catalogue

Data guidance

Learn more about the data files used in this release using our online guidance

Download all data (ZIP)

Download all data available in this release as a compressed ZIP file

School numbers

In 2019/20, there were 29,624 maintained schools across the UK, an increase of 26 compared to 2018/19, with the majority of these at nursery and primary level. There were 32,028 schools overall (although this excludes independent schools in Scotland and Wales as these figures were unavailable). At nursery level, Scotland figures include all providers of funded Early Learning and childcare, whereas figures across the rest of the UK only include nurseries.

Pupil numbers

The number of pupils in maintained schools continued to rise in 2019/20 across the UK, with an increase of 0.9% in England, 0.2% in Wales, 0.6% in Scotland and 0.7% in Northern Ireland. 

There has been a greater increase in the percentage of pupils in special schools, 4.1%, than in other school types across the UK (except for pupils in middle schools, which saw a rise of 17.5%, but this is only in Wales and reflects the increase in the number of middle schools in Wales in 2019/20).

Data on the number of pupils by gender and school type in each country (and each region of England) is available in the underlying data along with data by age and school type at a UK level.

Teacher numbers

The number of full-time equivalent teachers across maintained schools remained broadly stable between 2018/19 and 2019/20 across the UK.

• In Scotland, teacher numbers increased in both primary and secondary schools. 
• In both England and Northern Ireland there was a slight decrease in the number of teachers in primary schools but an increase in secondary. 
• In Wales the number of teachers in both primary and secondary schools had fallen slightly; this was balanced out by an increase in the number of teachers in middle schools, reflecting the increase in the number of middle schools in 2019/20. 

All countries saw a rise in the number of teachers in special schools which reflects the growing number of pupils in special schools.

The impact of changes in both teacher and pupil numbers can be seen in the section on pupil teacher ratios. 

Pupil teacher ratios (PTR)

Pupil teacher ratios (PTR) show the number of pupils for every teacher. Across the UK the PTRs follow a similar pattern across all phases, with Scotland having the lowest PTRs and England, Wales and Northern Ireland all having very similar PTRs.

PTRs for all maintained schools rose slightly between 2015/16 and 2019/20 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by a similar amount (0.6 to 0.8), whereas in Scotland they remained stable over this period.

When looking across primary, middle, secondary and special schools there has been an increase in the PTR over this period in every country and every phase, with the exception of primary schools in Scotland, which saw a decrease from 16.7 to 15.9 over this period.

Comparing the PTRs across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales with the regions of England, Scotland had the lowest PTRs of any area at all phases, followed by Inner London.

For all schools, Wales, the East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber and the East of England had the highest PTRs. Northern Ireland had the highest PTRs at primary level, Wales and the East Midlands at secondary, and Wales in special schools.

Attendance in education settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

The data in this section shows the percentage of children attending educational settings during the COVID-19 outbreak and the percentage of settings that were open during the outbreak. These figures cover the period from the 23rd March to the 26th June 2020. The figures are presented until the 26th June as this is when the Northern Ireland data collection ended (on the 29th June) and when schools in Scotland began to finish the summer term.

The data for each part of the UK is taken directly from their respective published information, and the methodologies and coverage for each will differ significantly. There will also have been changes to the surveys and the methodologies behind the figures across countries during this time period, as policy requirements evolved. Also, term dates and bank holidays will be different in each country in the UK, so changes in the time series may occur at different points for each country. Therefore, direct comparisons between numbers should not be made.

More detailed information on the methodology used in each part of the UK can be found at:

England - Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

Scotland - Attendance and absence data for pupils and staff in schools and childcare settings

Wales - Attendance at local authority settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

Northern Ireland - Management Information relating to Attendance at educational settings during the COVID-19 outbreak

Across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the percentage of children attending remained under 2% throughout this time period, whereas in England the percentage remained stable between March and May, followed by an increase from the beginning of June. This meant attendance increased from under 2% to a peak of 16.7% on 23rd June. This increase reflects the phased reopening of schools in England from June 1st , whereas across the rest of the UK education settings only remained open for priority groups. The phased reopening of schools in Wales began on 29th June , in Scotland settings reopened at the beginning of the new school term on 11th August and in Northern Ireland they reopened to all pupils at the beginning of the new school term in the week commencing 31st August .

Data on the percentage of settings open during the period is also available in the underlying data.

Higher and further education

In 2018/19 there were 2.6 million students doing higher education at UK higher education institutions, further education colleges and at alternative providers. About two thirds of these are studying first degrees, 1 in 5 studying a masters, 1 in 20 doing a PhD and 1 in 10 on other undergraduate courses.

Females made up a greater share of students at every level other than for PhDs, where males made up 51.0% of all students, despite females making up a greater share of overall postgraduate students. The share of females also rose at every level between 2017/18 and 2018/19, increasing from 56.7% to 57.2% overall.

The most popular subject group studied in higher education in the UK is business & administrative studies with 410,000 students (16% of all students), followed by social sciences (including law) (14%) and subjects allied to medicine (12%).

There are clear differences in the subject group figures by gender: 

• Females were more likely to enrol in both subjects allied to medicine and social sciences (including law) than males. 16% of all female students enrolled in each of these subjects whereas for males the figures were 6% and 12% respectively.
• For males the most popular subjects were business & administrative studies (19% of all male students) followed by engineering and technology (13%). Males were also much more likely to enrol in both engineering & technology (13%) and mathematical and computing sciences (12%), whereas for females the percentages were only 2 and 3% respectively.

These figures are available in the underlying data for 2016/17 to 2018/19, as well as figures by level of education and mode of study. 

Data on the total number of national and overseas students is also available, by gender, level of education and mode of study.

The number of students in further education in the UK continued to decrease in 2018/19, falling by 3.3% compared to 2017/18. The number of students fell by 4.5% in England and by 4.3% in Northern Ireland, but increased by 10.4% in Scotland and by 3.1% in Wales. 

Further information on the demographics of further education students (gender, age and mode of study), as well as the number of colleges and staff, can be found in the underlying data.

Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET)

The percentage of 16-24 year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the UK was 11.0% from July-September 2020, down from 11.2% in the previous quarter and 11.6% in the same quarter last year.

However, there are differences in these trends when looking at the gender breakdown: 

• The percentage of males who were NEET increased by 0.1 percentage points to 12.1% over the last year 
• The percentage of females who were NEET decreased by 1.2 percentage points to 9.9% over the last year

There has also been a difference in the magnitude of the decrease in the NEET when looking at age groups. 

• The percentage of 16-17 year-olds decreased by 1.6 percentage points to 3.2% over the last year
• The percentage of 18-24 year olds decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 13.1% over the last year 

More information on these statistics is available from the Office of National Statistics. Statistics for each part of the UK are available at:

England - Statistics: NEET and participation

Scotland - Skills Development Scotland - Annual Participation Measure

Wales - Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET)

Northern Ireland - Quarterly Labour Force Survey Tables

Qualification headline measures

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have different headline measures for the performance of students in examinations, using different methodologies to calculate the relevant percentages or scores. The headline measures for each part of the UK are presented here and subject level data is available in the underlying data.

Given the different qualifications systems and headline measures, it is not suitable to present a direct comparative picture of pupil performance across the UK. 

More detail on the national performance measures used across the UK can be found at the relevant sources for each country and each level of education:

England - Statistics: GCSEs (key stage 4)

England  - Statistics: 16 to 19 attainment

Scotland - Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations

Wales - Examination results

Northern Ireland - Year 12 and Year 14 Examination Performance at Post-Primary Schools in Northern Ireland

One noticeable trend that occurs across the UK is that females outperform males in almost all of the headline measures. The only exceptions to this are the percentage of 16-18 years olds in England who achieve 3 A Levels at A*-A and the percentage who achieve 3 A Levels of AAB or above, however the total number of females achieving these measures is still higher as a larger number of females enter A Levels.

Highest qualification for adults aged 19-64

Across the UK 82% of adults aged 19-64 have a National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level of 2 or above. This decreases to 64% with NQF level 3 or above and 44% at level 4 or above.

A higher percentage of females are qualified to each of these levels than males. 

87% of the population aged 19 to 24 and 25 to 29 hold NQF level 2 or above; this decreases with each older age group. For NQF level 3 or above, the age group with the highest qualification rate is 25-29 year olds and 30-39 year olds for NQF level 4 or above.

Education expenditure

The amount of government expenditure on education rose by 5% from 2018-19 to 2019-20, with an increase of 2% on primary education and an 8% increase in spend on secondary education.

Help and support

Methodology.

Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.

National statistics

These accredited official statistics have been independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics . Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 .

Accreditation signifies their compliance with the authority's Code of Practice for Statistics which broadly means these statistics are:

• managed impartially and objectively in the public interest
• meet identified user needs
• produced according to sound methods
• well explained and readily accessible

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing [email protected] or via the OSR website .

If you have a specific enquiry about Education and training statistics for the UK statistics and data:

International evidence and statistics team

Press office.

If you have a media enquiry:

Telephone: 020 7783 8300

Public enquiries

If you have a general enquiry about the Department for Education (DfE) or education:

Telephone: 037 0000 2288

Opening times: Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 5pm (excluding bank holidays)

• Society ›
• Education & Science

Education in the United Kingdom- Statistics & Facts

Overcrowded classrooms and the pandemic pose challenges, how uk students are evaluated, key insights.

Detailed statistics

Proportion of GCSE entries that achieved a pass grade in the UK 1988-2023

Government spending on education in the UK 1999-2023

Number of schools in the UK 2010-2023

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Current statistics on this topic.

Education Level & Skills

Proportion of GCSE entries that achieved a pass grade in the UK 2000-2023, by gender

GCSE grade levels in England in 2022-2023

Number of pupils attending schools in the UK 2010-2023

Related topics

Recommended.

• Languages and education in the United Kingdom
• E-learning and digital education
• Education in Europe

Recommended statistics

Schools, pupils, and teachers.

• Basic Statistic Number of schools in the UK 2010-2023
• Premium Statistic Number of full-time teachers in the UK 2015-2023
• Premium Statistic Number of public sector employees in education UK 1999-2022
• Basic Statistic Pupil to teacher ratio in the United Kingdom 2000-2019
• Premium Statistic Number of pupils attending schools in the UK 2010-2023
• Premium Statistic Number of secondary schools in the UK 2010-2023
• Premium Statistic Number of primary schools in the UK 2010-2023
• Basic Statistic Number of nursery schools in the UK 2010-2023

Number of schools in the United Kingdom from 2010/11 to 2022/23

Number of full-time teachers in the UK 2015-2023

Number of full-time equivalent teachers in the United Kingdom from 2015/16 to 2022/23

Number of public sector employees in education UK 1999-2022

Number of public sector employees in education in the United Kingdom from 1st quarter 1999 to 4th quarter 2023 (in 1,000s)

Pupil to teacher ratio in the United Kingdom 2000-2019

Pupil to teacher ratio in the United Kingdom from 2010/11 to 2018/19, by school type

Number of pupils attending schools in the United Kingdom from 2010/11 to 2022/23 (in 1,000s)

Number of secondary schools in the UK 2010-2023

Number of secondary schools in the United Kingdom from 2010/11 to 2022/23

Number of primary schools in the UK 2010-2023

Number of primary schools in the United Kingdom from 2010/11 to 2022/23

Number of nursery schools in the UK 2010-2023

Number of nursery schools in the United Kingdom from 2010/11 to 2022/23

• Basic Statistic Proportion of GCSE entries that achieved a pass grade in the UK 1988-2023
• Basic Statistic Proportion of GCSE entries that achieved a pass grade in the UK 2000-2023, by gender
• Basic Statistic Proportion of GCSE entries that achieved a high pass grade in the UK 1988-2023
• Basic Statistic GCSE entries that achieved a high pass grade in the UK 2000-2023, by gender
• Basic Statistic GCSE grade levels in England in 2022-2023
• Premium Statistic National 5 pass rates Scotland 2014-2023
• Basic Statistic A Level results in the United Kingdom 2000-2023, by grade

Proportion of GCSE entries awarded a C/4 or higher in the United Kingdom between 1988 and 2023

Proportion of GCSE entries awarded a C/4 or higher in the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2023, by gender

Proportion of GCSE entries that achieved a high pass grade in the UK 1988-2023

Proportion of GCSE entries awarded a A/7 or higher in the United Kingdom between 1988 and 2023

GCSE entries that achieved a high pass grade in the UK 2000-2023, by gender

Proportion of GCSE entries awarded a A/7 or higher in the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2023, by gender

Percentage of GCSE entries in England in 2022 and 2023, by grade level

National 5 pass rates Scotland 2014-2023

National 5 exam pass rates in Scotland from 2014 to 2023

A Level results in the United Kingdom 2000-2023, by grade

GCE Advanced Level (A Level) results in the United Kingdom from 2000 to 2023, by grade

Economic indicators

• Premium Statistic GVA of the education sector UK 1990-2023
• Basic Statistic Government spending on education in the UK 1999-2023
• Basic Statistic Government spending on education as a share of GDP in the UK 1999-2023
• Premium Statistic Government spending on education in the UK 2023, by function
• Basic Statistic Government spending on primary education in the UK 2009-2023
• Basic Statistic Government spending on secondary education in the UK 2009-2023
• Premium Statistic CPI inflation rate for education in the UK 1989-2024
• Premium Statistic CPI for education in the UK 1988-2023

GVA of the education sector UK 1990-2023

Gross value added of the education sector in the United Kingdom from 1990 to 2023 (in million GBP)

Public sector expenditure on education in the United Kingdom from 1999/00 to 2022/23 (in billion GBP)

Government spending on education as a share of GDP in the UK 1999-2023

Public sector expenditure on education as a share of GDP in the United Kingdom from 1999/00 to 2022/23

Government spending on education in the UK 2023, by function

Public sector expenditure on education in the United Kingdom in 2022/23, by sub-function (in million GBP)

Government spending on primary education in the UK 2009-2023

Public sector expenditure on pre-primary and primary education in the United Kingdom from 2009/10 to 2022/23 (in billion GBP)

Government spending on secondary education in the UK 2009-2023

Public sector expenditure on secondary education in the United Kingdom from 2009/10 to 2022/23 (in billion GBP)

CPI inflation rate for education in the UK 1989-2024

CPI inflation rate for education in the United Kingdom from January 1989 to February 2024

CPI for education in the UK 1988-2023

Consumer Price Index for education in the United Kingdom from 1st quarter 1988 to 4th quarter 2023 (2015=100)

Opinions and views

• Basic Statistic Perception on how good or bad education is in Great Britain 2020-2024
• Basic Statistic Decisive factors for parents choosing an education provider in England 2021
• Basic Statistic Opinion on what should change at schools in England in 2021
• Basic Statistic Opinion on if the education system prepares children for work in England in 2021
• Basic Statistic Opinion on if the school system in England is improving in 2021

Perception on how good or bad education is in Great Britain 2020-2024

How good or bad is education nationally in Great Britain? (October 2020 to January 2024)

Decisive factors for parents choosing an education provider in England 2021

When deciding on a childcare provider which of the following, if any, were important to you when making your decision?

Opinion on what should change at schools in England in 2021

If there was to be a radical overhaul of education, what do you think should change?

Opinion on if the education system prepares children for work in England in 2021

How well or badly do you think the education system prepares children for work?

Opinion on if the school system in England is improving in 2021

Do you think the school system in England is better or worse than it was ten years ago, or much the same?

International Comparisons

• Premium Statistic Share of GDP spent on education in Europe 2020
• Basic Statistic Overall PISA score in major European countries 2006-2018
• Basic Statistic PISA results in Europe in 2022, by category
• Basic Statistic Frequency of bullying in European countries 2018
• Basic Statistic Socio-economic inequality in reading attainment in European countries 2018
• Premium Statistic Length of school summer holiday in European countries in 2018/19

Share of GDP spent on education in Europe 2020

Education spending as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) in Europe in 2020

Overall PISA score in major European countries 2006-2018

Overall programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results in major European countries from 2006 to 2018

PISA results in Europe in 2022, by category

Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results in selected European countries in 2022, by category

Frequency of bullying in European countries 2018

Share of students who reported being victims of any type of bullying act at least a few times a month in selected European countries in 2018

Socio-economic inequality in reading attainment in European countries 2018

Difference between advantaged and disadvantaged students in PISA reading attainment in European countries in 2018*

Length of school summer holiday in European countries in 2018/19

Length of school summer holidays in selected European countries in 2018/19, in weeks

Further reports Get the best reports to understand your industry

Get the best reports to understand your industry.

• Higher education in the UK
• Gender-based violence in Europe

Mon - Fri, 9am - 6pm (EST)

Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm (SGT)

Mon - Fri, 10:00am - 6:00pm (JST)

Mon - Fri, 9:30am - 5pm (GMT)

• Opportunities
• Market Intelligence Briefs

Please note that under HESA regulations only institutions contributing data to HESA are permitted to access the data mining tools. If this applies to you, and you have an account, please login to access the tools. If you do not have an account please register .

Key Priorities of Ministry of Education in 2022

You are here.

After Chinese New Year, Ministry of Education has released the key priorities of educational work in 2022, which are still basically in line with the objectives set out in the 14 th Five-Year Plan and 2035 Vision.  The new plan shed lights on international education and collaboration opportunities. Below are some highlights and changes compared to 2021 version:

1. 14 th Five Year Plan for Education

• Implement the Guiding Opinions on Building a High-quality Development System for Education and strengthen the research on education science. 
• Place the strategic position of education as a priority. The proportion of fiscal expenditure on education to gross domestic product (GDP) is no less than 4%.

2. Improve the education system for all-round development

• promote the ‘double reduction policy’, which restricts out-of-school training institutions from providing for-profit training in academic subjects”. Strengthen the supervision and legislation of off-campus education and training, especially for curriculum-based tutoring institutions.
• For the non-curriculum tutoring providers, distinguish the sports, culture and art, science and technology theme, clarify the regulatory departments and implement regular supervisions.
• Practice health first concept, implement the action plan for the reform of PE and integration of sports and education. Host the first China Youth Football League and prepare for the first National Student (Youth) Sports Meet.
• Improve the aesthetic education curriculum system that bridges universities, primary and secondary schools, strengthen the development of aesthetic education teachers

*with the new regulations released in 2021 to reduce the burden of homework and after-school training during compulsory education stage, further legislation and supervision on the private sector is emphasized in the 2022 plan to ensure students’ welfare.

3. Promote education equality

• Accelerate the development of pre-school education, general high school education and special education
• implement the synchronous enrollment and territorial enrollment policy among public and non-government high schools
• Promote the expansion and integration of special education, "one person, one case" to improve the level of compulsory education for disabled children and adolescents.
• Strengthen the construction of standardized special education schools and barrier-free campuses, develop special education resource centers and resource classrooms.

4. Develop a high-quality textbook system with Chinese characteristics

• Start the compilation of textbooks on Chinese journalism and Chinese law, accelerate the construction of original high-level philosophy and social science textbooks.

5. Chinese language development

• Implement the State Language Commission’s 14 th Five-Year Scientific Research Plan,  promote the construction of language talents, scientific research institutions, and linguistics disciplines.
• Advance the development of global Chinese learning platform, strengthen the language and writing work among colleges and universities. Build national language and writing promotion base.
• Issue documents on strengthening international cooperation and exchanges in language and writing in the new era. Compile and implement the International Chinese Education Development Plan (2021-2025) and improve the international Chinese education standard system.

6. Talent cultivation and innovation

• Strengthen the cultivation of talents in basic disciplines, issue the "Opinions on Strengthening the Cultivation of Talents in Basic Disciplines", and implement development actions for basic subjects, courses, teaching materials, and practical conditions.
• Explore a mechanism for early discovery and training of top innovative talents, promote the implementation of the strengthening basic discipline programme, and support the reform of the integration of talents training through undergraduate, master and doctoral levels.
• Develop the Action Plan on Strengthening the Talent Training System for Carbon Dioxide Emission Peak and Carbon Neutrality.
• Serve the nation’s regional development strategy, promote the in-depth university – industry – research cooperation. Encourage universities and local stakeholders to establish joint innovation centers, carry out collaborative research with enterprises, and strengthen the capacity building on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

7. Vocational Education:

• Enhance the adaptability of vocational education. Support the diversified development of secondary vocational schools,
• Steadily develop vocational undergraduate education, and support the integration of high-quality higher vocational resources to establish a number of undergraduate-level vocational institutions.
• Deepen the integration of industry and education, advance the cooperation between universities and enterprises, promote the shareholding system and mixed ownership of vocational education, encourage the substantive operation of vocational education groups (alliances), and support schools and enterprises to jointly build "double-teacher" teacher training bases and enterprise practice bases.
• Develop an apprenticeship system with Chinese characteristics, promote the comprehensive education of class teaching and off-campus competition and certificates.
• Implement a special plan for the training of on-site engineers in advanced manufacturing industry and strengthen the training of talents in shorted handed areas such as housekeeping, elderly care and nursery education.

8. Higher Education:

• Improve HEIs’ level of innovation, openness and cooperation, and support universities to take the lead in initiating international big science plans and projects.
• Optimize the structure and system of key research bases of Humanities and Social Sciences in Colleges and universities. Lead the initiation of social science innovation team. Encourage HEIs to play the role of think tanks and improve the capacity of political advice and social service.
• Strengthen and improve science and engineering education, promote the construction of new engineering, new medical, new agricultural and new liberal arts. Speed up the training of talents in short-handed areas of science, engineering, agriculture and medicine.
• Strengthen the training of outstanding engineers, promote HEIs and enterprises to jointly design training objectives and training plans, implement training processes, and carry out the "dual mentor system" between institutions and enterprises.
• Build a number of future technical colleges, modern industry colleges, high-level public health colleges and professional characteristic colleges, promote the construction of national industry education integration innovation platform, cultivate and build characteristic high-end medical equipment engineering practice and teaching centers, and advance the pilot construction of virtual teaching and research labs.
• Implement the action plan of revitalizing higher education in the central and western regions in the new era, create a "Western Triangle" for the development of higher education in the central and western regions, carry out the MOOC Plan 2.0 in western areas.
• Gradually weaken the identity of first-class universities and first-class discipline construction universities, select universities with distinctive characteristics and comprehensive advantages, give certain construction autonomy, and explore the development mode of classified characteristics. Carry out a new round of "double first-class" joint construction between the Ministry of Education and localities.

*2022 priorities provide more detailed development plan in central and western regions, indicating government’s strategy to promote the education equality and potential collaboration in this region

9. Non-government funding education

• Improve the policies and measures for the classified support and management of non-governmental schools
• Promote the standardizing work of private compulsory education, accelerate the structure optimization of compulsory education, and ensure that compulsory education shall be mainly provided by public schools and government procurement of services. Design the management policy for the change of private school organizers and ensure the public welfare purpose of education.

10. Further education

• Accelerate the construction of an education system that serves the lifelong learning. Standardize the development of higher further education, issue implementation opinions on promoting the reform of further education for academic qualifications held by regular colleges and universities in the new era, and strengthen the management of non-academic education provided by regular higher education institutions.
• Promote the research and practice of the National Qualifications Framework and the
• National Credit Bank. Formulate detailed regulations for the implementation of self-taught examination, and promote the reform of the content and format for self-taught examinations.
• Advance the innovative development of the Open University of China, build a network for community education.
• Accelerate the development of education for the elderly, accelerate the construction of national universities for the elderly, carry out education and training on the smart technology application for the elderly, and develop high-quality work cases, training programs and course resources on "Smart Technology for the Elderly".

*To promote a life-long education system, the 2022 plan proposed education strategy for the elderly, and technology will play a role to support this education innovation.

11. Build quality and professional teaching force

• Implement the plan to strengthen teachers for basic education in the new era, develop a number of national normal education bases and experimental zones for the reform of national teacher training.
• Improve the training system for vocational education teachers, implement plans to promote the capacity of teachers in vocational schools, and set up state-level demonstration training programs. Encourage high-level comprehensive universities to provide teacher training.

12. Education reform and innovation

• Deepen the reform of examination content, optimize the content system of all-round evaluation of morals, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics and work, strengthen the examination of students' key abilities.
• Carry out classified examinations in higher vocational institutions and focus on selecting and training of high-quality technical talents.
• Promote the development of Hainan area as an international education innovation Island, and encourage overseas high-level universities and vocational institutions to set up education institutions of science, engineering, agriculture and medical subjects in Hainan Free Trade Port.
• Implement the strategic action of education digitization. Develop the "Internet + education" model, and accelerate digital transformation and smart upgrade of education.
• Construct the national smart education public service platform, innovate the mode of digital resource supply, enrich digital education and service resources, promote the application of national primary and secondary school network cloud platform. Explore smart classroom development across universities, primary and secondary schools with the support from national television class in the air programme. Optimize the class teaching format and student evaluation as well as to advance the application of internet learning.
• Improve the standard system for education digitization. Promote the pilot work of developing teacher forces through artificial intelligence.

13. Education opening up

• Strengthen the training of high-level and technical personnel from Europe. Deepen international cooperation of industry, education, research and application.
• Carry out pilot reforms of Sino-foreign cooperatively-run institutions with legal personality, as well as the training model reform in mainland and Hong Kong and Macao cooperatively-run institutions.
• Create internationally competitive study in China overseas education, reform the Chinese government scholarship enrollment and training mechanism, and promote the development of teaching materials and curricula for foreign students studying in China.
• Issue and implement Measures for Employment and Administration of Foreign Teachers (Trial), launch the comprehensive information service platform for foreign teachers.
• Deepen the cooperation with the UNESCO, promote education collaboration within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, participate in the global education management, continue to supply international organization with talents, explore international cooperation around the open science.

British Council Analysis

• The priorities are still basically in line with the objectives set out in the 14th Five-Year Plan and 2035 Vision – for example, the MoE still plans to focus on applied study and support vocational education, and to prioritise less-developed parts of the country such as central and western China.
• International cooperation in research and transnational education is still encouraged.
• Basic subjects including mathematics, physics, chemistry etc and disciplines in medicine, engineering and agriculture will be further promoted.
• Despite China’s borders having been closed to international students since early in the pandemic, the country has not abandoned its goals to attract more international students which suggests that China will still remain a player in international student mobility after border restrictions are eased.
• Government will focus on talent cultivation and exchange as well as technology and research innovation that match with social development needs. Industry such as elderly care (social services), public health, advanced manufacturing and information technology will provide collaboration opportunity for UK stakeholders.

2022 key priorities

http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/gzdt_gzdt/202202/t20220208_597666.html

2021 key priorities

http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/gzdt_gzdt/202102/t20210203_512419.html

14 th Five-Year Pan and 2035 Objectives

http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/s6052/moe_838/202103/t20210315_519738.html

Related news

China to increase science and technology funding

Philippine universities cease senior high school programmes

Japan aims to double joint degrees by 2033

Sign up to our newsletter.

Keep up to date with the latest news from the British Council.

Footer menu

• British Council Global
• Eligibility criteria
• Accessibility
• Privacy and cookies

© 2023 British Council The United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Global site navigation

• Celebrities
• Celebrity biographies
• Messages - Wishes - Quotes
• TV-shows and movies
• Fashion and style
• Capital Market
• Family and Relationships

Local editions

• Legit Nigeria News
• Legit Hausa News
• Legit Spanish News
• Legit French News

Apply Now: Federal Government Announces Scholarship Awards for Nigerian Students, Graduates

• The federal ministry of education has announced two scholarship programmes - the Nigerian Scholarship Award (NSA) and the Education Bursary Award
• Interested and qualified Nigerians are advised to visit www.education.gov.ng to commence their registration
• The scholarship programmes cover both undergraduate and post-graduate studies for qualified Nigerians

PAY ATTENTION: Follow our WhatsApp channel to never miss out on the news that matters to you!

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 5 years of experience covering basic and tertiary education in Nigeria and worldwide

FCT, Abuja - The federal ministry of Education has invited interested and qualified Nigerians to participate in the 2023/24 Nigerian Scholarship Award (NSA) and Education Bursary Award.

According to the statement, registration commenced on Tuesday, April 2 and will close on May 13, 2024.

This was disclosed by the ministry’s X handle (formerly known as Twitter) @NigEducation on Tuesday, April.

"Tuition fees covered": Kazakhstan invites Nigerians, others for fully-funded scholarship programmes

PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed!

Interested applicants are advised to visit www.education.gov.ng to commence the registration process.

Nigerian Scholarship Award

According to the ministry of education , the following are the eligibility criteria:

• Applicants for postgraduate studies must have a minimum of first degree with second-class honours in the upper division.
• Undergraduates, HND and NCE applicants must be full-time students in their second year and above. The minimum qualification is a 4.0 CGPA on a 5.0-point scale and 5.0 on a 7.0-point scale.

Education Bursary Award

• Applicants must be registered students studying education at the Nigeria college of Education or a university
• Applicants must be full-time students
• All applicants must be in their second year and above

Important documents to attach to application

• Letter of admission into the institution
• Cumulative Grade Point Average (CPGA) result
• Nationality Identity Number
• State of Origin Certificate

Full List: 5 categories of people banned from Tinubu govt's student loan

Nigerians invited to apply for fully-funded scholarship in UK

In a similar development, Legit.ng reported that the Gates Cambridge Scholarship programme is open for Nigerians and other international students to study on a fully-funded scholarship at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

The scholarship programme is sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Applications for entry into the academic year 2024-25 commenced in September 2023.

According to the scholarship website, the selection criteria are divided into four categories.

PAY ATTENTION: Stay Informed and follow us on Google News!

Source: Legit.ng

Cookies on GOV.UK

We use some essential cookies to make this website work.

We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services.

We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services.

You have accepted additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

You have rejected additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.

Read biographies and responsibilities of Cabinet ministers and all ministers by department , as well as the whips who help co-ordinate parliamentary business.

Cabinet ministers

Rishi sunak mp.

Prime Minister , First Lord of the Treasury , Minister for the Civil Service , Minister for the Union

Oliver Dowden CBE MP

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office ; Deputy Prime Minister

Jeremy Hunt MP

Chancellor of the Exchequer

Lord Cameron

Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

James Cleverly MP

Secretary of State for the Home Department

Grant Shapps MP

Secretary of State for Defence

Alex Chalk KC MP

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice

Michelle Donelan MP

Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

Michael Gove MP

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities ; Minister for Intergovernmental Relations

Victoria Atkins MP

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Steve Barclay MP

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Penny Mordaunt MP

Lord President of the Council , Leader of the House of Commons

Lord True CBE

Lord Privy Seal , Leader of the House of Lords

Kemi Badenoch MP

Secretary of State for Business and Trade , President of the Board of Trade , Minister for Women and Equalities

Claire Coutinho MP

Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

Mel Stride MP

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Gillian Keegan MP

Secretary of State for Education

Mark Harper MP

Secretary of State for Transport

Lucy Frazer KC MP

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

Richard Holden MP

Minister without Portfolio

Chris Heaton-Harris MP

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Alister Jack MP

Secretary of State for Scotland

David TC Davies MP

Secretary of State for Wales

Also attends Cabinet

Simon hart mp.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)

Laura Trott MBE MP

Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Victoria Prentis KC MP

Attorney General

John Glen MP

Paymaster General , Minister for the Cabinet Office Unpaid

Esther McVey MP

Tom Tugendhat MBE VR MP

Minister of State (Minister for Security)

Andrew Mitchell MP

Minister of State (Development and Africa)

Johnny Mercer MP

Minister of State (Minister for Veterans’ Affairs)

Michael Tomlinson KC MP

Minister of State for Countering Illegal Migration

Ministers by department

Cabinet office, baroness neville-rolfe dbe cmg.

Minister of State Unpaid

Alex Burghart MP

Parliamentary Secretary

Steve Baker MP

Minister of State

Alan Mak MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

HM Treasury

Nigel huddleston mp.

Financial Secretary to the Treasury

Bim Afolami MP

Economic Secretary to the Treasury

Gareth Davies MP

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury

Baroness Vere of Norbiton

Foreign, commonwealth & development office, anne-marie trevelyan mp.

Minister of State (Indo-Pacific)

Nusrat Ghani MP

Minister of State (Europe)

Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon

Minister of State (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, United Nations and the Commonwealth) Unpaid

Lord Benyon

Minister of State (Climate, Environment and Energy – joint with FCDO and Defra) Unpaid

David Rutley MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Americas, Caribbean and the Overseas Territories)

Home Office

Chris philp mp.

Minister of State (Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire)

Lord Sharpe of Epsom OBE

Laura farris mp, tom pursglove mp.

Minister of State for Legal Migration and the Border

Ministry of Defence

Leo docherty mp.

Minister of State (Minister for Armed Forces)

James Cartlidge MP

Minister of State (Minister for Defence Procurement)

Dr Andrew Murrison MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Defence People and Families)

The Earl of Minto

Ministry of justice, edward argar mp, mike freer mp, lord bellamy kc.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Unpaid

Gareth Bacon MP

Department for science, innovation & technology, julia lopez mp.

Minister of State (Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure)

Andrew Griffith MP

Minister of State (Minister for Science, Research and Innovation) Unpaid

Viscount Camrose

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for AI and Intellectual Property) Unpaid

Saqib Bhatti MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy)

Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities

Lee rowley mp.

Minister of State (Minister for Housing, Planning and Building Safety)

Felicity Buchan MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Housing and Homelessness)

Jacob Young MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Levelling Up)

Baroness Scott of Bybrook OBE

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Social Housing and Faith, and Lords Minister)

Simon Hoare MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Local Government)

Baroness Swinburne

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Housing and Communities)

Department of Health & Social Care

Helen whately mp.

Minister of State (Minister for Social Care)

Maria Caulfield MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy)

Lord Markham CBE

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for the Lords) Unpaid

Andrew Stephenson CBE MP

Minister of State (Minister for Health and Secondary Care)

Andrea Leadsom MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary Care)

Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs

Mark spencer mp.

Minister of State (Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries)

Rebecca Pow MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Nature)

Robbie Moore MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Water and Rural Growth)

Robbie Douglas-Miller OBE

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Biosecurity, Animal Health and Welfare) Unpaid

Office of the Leader of the House of Commons

Office of the leader of the house of lords, earl howe gbe.

Deputy Leader of the House of Lords Unpaid

Department for Business & Trade

Secretary of State for Business and Trade , President of the Board of Trade

Lord Johnson

Minister of State (Minister for Regulatory Reform) , Minister of State (Minister for Investment) Unpaid

Greg Hands MP

Minister of State (Minister for Trade Policy)

Lord Offord of Garvel CVO

Minister for Exports Unpaid

Kevin Hollinrake MP

Department for energy security & net zero, graham stuart mp.

Minister of State (Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Andrew Bowie MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Nuclear and Renewables)

Amanda Solloway MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Affordability and Skills) Paid as a whip

Lord Callanan

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance)

Department for Work & Pensions

Jo churchill mp.

Minister of State (Minister for Employment)

Mims Davies MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work)

Paul Maynard MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Pensions)

Viscount Younger of Leckie

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Lords)

Department for Education

Luke hall mp.

Minister of State (Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education)

Damian Hinds MP

Minister of State (Minister of State for Schools)

David Johnston OBE MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing)

Baroness Barran MBE

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for the School System and Student Finance) Unpaid

Department for Transport

Huw merriman mp.

Minister of State (Rail and HS2)

Anthony Browne MP

Guy opperman mp, lord davies of gower, department for culture, media & sport, stuart andrew mp.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society, and Minister for Equalities

Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Libraries and DCMS Lords Minister

Northern Ireland Office

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Paid as a whip

Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland

John lamont mp, lord cameron of lochiel, office of the secretary of state for wales, fay jones mp, attorney general's office, robert courts kc mp.

Solicitor General

Office of the Advocate General for Scotland

Lord stewart of dirleton kc.

HM Advocate General for Scotland

UK Export Finance

President of the Board of Trade

House of Commons

Marcus jones mp.

Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip)

Rebecca Harris MP

Comptroller of HM Household (Government Whip)

Stuart Anderson MP

Vice Chamberlain of HM Household (Government Whip)

Junior Lords of the Treasury

Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) Paid as a whip

Scott Mann MP

Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury)

Dame Amanda Milling MP

Mike wood mp, joy morrissey mp, assistant whips, ruth edwards mp.

Assistant Government Whip

Mark Jenkinson MP

Gagan mohindra mp, robert largan mp, mark fletcher mp, suzanne webb mp, aaron bell mp, house of lords, baroness williams of trafford.

Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms (Lords Chief Whip)

The Earl of Courtown

Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (Lords Deputy Chief Whip)

Baronesses and Lords in Waiting

Lord harlech.

Lord in Waiting

Lord Evans of Rainow

Lord in Waiting (Government Whip)

Lord Roborough

Lord in Waiting (Government Whip) Unpaid

Lord Gascoigne

Is this page useful.

• Yes this page is useful
• No this page is not useful

Help us improve GOV.UK

Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.

To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today. We’ll send you a link to a feedback form. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. Don’t worry we won’t send you spam or share your email address with anyone.