This book presents the results of the project on Young Adults with Low Levels of Education, conducted jointly by the OECD and the Canadian Policy Research Networks. It examines the extent to which young men and women with low levels of education are marginalised, the role family background plays...

In many OECD countries, tertiary education systems have experienced rapid growth over the last decade. With tertiary education increasingly seen as a fundamental pillar for economic growth, these systems must now address the pressures of a globalising economy and labour market. Within governance...

Human resources, training, qualifications and skills play an essential part in the development of regional economies. The notion of "learning" regions which has now become self-evident has yet to be translated into practice: but under which conditions and what are the priorities? This...

The United Kingdom’s Department for Education and Skills commissioned a major study to examine the relationship between capital investment in schools and subsequent academic attainment. In particular, a key objective of the study was to establish, if possible, the additional effect in terms of...

Investment in human capital is to the fore of debate and analysis in OECD countries about how to promote economic prosperity, fuller employment, and social cohesion. Individuals, organisations and nations increasingly recognise that high levels of knowledge, skills and competencies are essential...

It’s elementary: students benefit from pre-primary education. The OECD’s PISA 2009 results show that in practically all OECD countries 15-year-old students who had attended some pre-primary school outperformed students who had not. In fact, the difference between students who had attended...

This report uses recent economic modelling to relate cognitive skills – as measured by PISA and other international instruments – to economic growth, demonstrating that relatively small improvements to labour force skills can largely impact the future well-being of a nation. The report also...

Value-added estimates are a significant improvement upon measures of school performance currently used in most education systems across OECD countries. They provide a fundamentally more accurate and valuable quantitative basis for school improvement planning, policy development and for enacting...

At some point in their child’s education, many parents have considered whether it would be worth the expense to enrol their child in a private school. For parents, private schools may offer a particular kind of instruction that is not available in public schools. If private schools also...