Tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64 in United Kingdom

Tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64 in the United Kingdom was 54.8% in 2025, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. That is up 0.9 pts from 2024. That is the 6th highest of 36 countries in 2025.

202554.8%

Change on 2024+0.9 pts

Rank6th of 36Countries ranked

Series high54.82025

Series low22.61997

Next release: Tuesday, 12 October 2027, estimated by Invokely from past publication dates (low confidence), not announced by the publisher. Release calendar

Tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64 in United Kingdom, 1997 to 2025

%. Source: OECD, OECD Education at a Glance: share of 25 to 64 year-olds with tertiary education, ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8 (DSD_EAG_LSO_EA@DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA). Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2026-10-12.

All 29 values

Period	%
2025	54.8
2024	53.8
2023	53.1
2022	51.5
2021	50.5
2020	49.8
2019	47.6
2018	45.8
2017	45.7
2016	45.8
2015	44.2
2014	42.2
2013	41.9 Series break
2012	41 Series break
2011	39.4 Series break
2010	38.2 Series break
2009	37 Series break
2008	35.2 Series break
2007	35.5 Series break
2006	34.2 Series break
2005	29.7 Series break
2004	29.3 Series break
2003	28 Series break
2002	26.8 Series break
2001	26.1 Series break
2000	25.7 Series break
1999	24.9 Series break
1998	23.8 Series break
1997	22.6 Series break

Rankings

Countries by tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64 43 places
EU countries by tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64 27 places

Definition

People aged 25 to 64 whose highest completed level of education is tertiary (ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8: short-cycle tertiary, bachelor's or equivalent, master's or equivalent, and doctoral), as a percentage of all people aged 25 to 64. Measured by national labour force surveys.

Includes short-cycle tertiary programmes such as US associate degrees, so it is higher than the US bachelors_degree_share, which also covers everyone aged 25 and over.

How to cite

OECD. OECD Education at a Glance: share of 25 to 64 year-olds with tertiary education, ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8 (DSD_EAG_LSO_EA@DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_LSO_EA%40DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2026). OECD Education at a Glance: share of 25 to 64 year-olds with tertiary education, ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8 (DSD_EAG_LSO_EA@DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA) (Tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64, United Kingdom, 1997 to 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_LSO_EA%40DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP

MLA 9

OECD Education at a Glance: share of 25 to 64 year-olds with tertiary education, ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8 (DSD_EAG_LSO_EA@DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA), Tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64, United Kingdom, 1997 to 2025. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 12 Oct. 2026, https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_LSO_EA%40DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/tertiary-education-attainment-25-64/united-kingdom. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2026. OECD Education at a Glance: share of 25 to 64 year-olds with tertiary education, ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8 (DSD_EAG_LSO_EA@DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA). Tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64, United Kingdom, 1997 to 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_LSO_EA%40DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/tertiary-education-attainment-25-64/united-kingdom.

Harvard

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2026) OECD Education at a Glance: share of 25 to 64 year-olds with tertiary education, ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8 (DSD_EAG_LSO_EA@DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA), Tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64, United Kingdom, 1997 to 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_LSO_EA%40DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/tertiary-education-attainment-25-64/united-kingdom (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{organisation_tertiary_education_attainment_ages_2025,
  author = {{Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development}},
  title = {{OECD Education at a Glance: share of 25 to 64 year-olds with tertiary education, ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8 (DSD\_EAG\_LSO\_EA@DF\_LSO\_NEAC\_DISTR\_EA): Tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64, United Kingdom, 1997 to 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_LSO_EA%40DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/tertiary-education-attainment-25-64/united-kingdom. Publisher attribution: OECD. OECD Education at a Glance: share of 25 to 64 year-olds with tertiary education, ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8 (DSD\_EAG\_LSO\_EA@DF\_LSO\_NEAC\_DISTR\_EA). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ\&df[id]=DSD\_EAG\_LSO\_EA\%40DF\_LSO\_NEAC\_DISTR\_EA\&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
TI  - OECD Education at a Glance: share of 25 to 64 year-olds with tertiary education, ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8 (DSD_EAG_LSO_EA@DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA): Tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64, United Kingdom, 1997 to 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/12
PB  - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_LSO_EA%40DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/tertiary-education-attainment-25-64/united-kingdom
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/tertiary-education-attainment-25-64/united-kingdom.
N1  - Publisher attribution: OECD. OECD Education at a Glance: share of 25 to 64 year-olds with tertiary education, ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8 (DSD_EAG_LSO_EA@DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EAG_LSO_EA%40DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA&df[ag]=OECD.EDU.IMEP. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html.
ER  -

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Questions

What is the tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64 in United Kingdom?

Where does this figure come from?

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. OECD Education at a Glance: share of 25 to 64 year-olds with tertiary education, ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8 (DSD_EAG_LSO_EA@DF_LSO_NEAC_DISTR_EA). Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64 in United Kingdom?

54.8% in 2025, the highest value since 1997 in this series.

Tertiary education attainment, ages 25 to 64 in other countries

Related statistics for United Kingdom

All statistics for United Kingdom | United Kingdom in figures