Country report

1. STEM education

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) enrolment at tertiary level is low, and the share of female STEM students the lowest in the EU. Graduate tracking data shows high employment rates among STEM graduates, particularly from information and communication technology (ICT) programmes. The data also shows that ICT master’s graduates are among the highest earners compared to graduates from other fields. However, only 23.8% of all tertiary students were enrolled in STEM subjects (EU: 26.9%) in 2023, well below the proposed EU target of 32% by 2030. The share of doctoral ICT students (4.9%) was well above the EU average (3.8%) in 2023, approaching the proposed EU target of 5%. At 25.4% in 2023, the share of female STEM students is significantly below the EU average of 32.2% and well below the proposed EU target of 40%. The low number of teaching hours in science and a shortage of school science teachers (Varga, J., 2024) may be one of the reasons for students’ not choosing to study STEM subjects. STEM teachers receive a 4% top-up as part of the 2024 teacher salary reform (Section 4).

Participation in STEM programmes is above the EU average among students in vocational education and training (VET), but women are underrepresented. In 2023, 38.3% of medium-level VET students (EU: 36.3%) were enrolled in a STEM programme: 29.2% in engineering, manufacturing and construction studies and only about 1% in natural sciences, mathematics and statistics. Only 11.2% of these STEM students in VET were female (EU: 15.4%). Female students are relatively well represented in natural sciences, mathematics and statistics. Hungary would benefit from facilitating transitions from medium-level STEM studies to higher education and from helping women to choose these kinds of studies in order to increase their participation in tertiary STEM studies. Increasing the number of mathematics, science and digital skills VET teachers could be a first step in getting more people interested in studying these subjects. The ‘certified technician programmes’ in engineering and ICT, giving fast-track access to tertiary level studies in these areas, and the ‘VET knowledge centres’ for STEM subjects, aimed at increasing collaboration between VET schools, higher education institutions and companies and at providing a high-tech dual learning environment, are also steps in the right direction.

Hungary has put in place several measures to incentivise enrolment in STEM. In 2016, it adopted a higher education strategy (Government, 2016), highlighting the development of the study of STEM subjects as a key national priority. Through the University Research Scholarship Programme (formerly known as New National Excellence Programme), the government supports high-performing students and researchers, including in STEM. As part of the National Talent Programme, the STEM Academy Programme was launched to get secondary school and university students involved in STEM talent development initiatives. This programme gives participating students financial support, mentoring and specialised training. The Cooperative Doctoral Programme supports doctoral STEM students whose research helps address innovation challenges and has societal and economic applications. There are also dedicated programmes to increase female STEM participation. One example is Girls’ Day, a career guidance initiative promoting STEM careers among secondary school girls.

2. Early childhood education and care

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) participation of children over three years old is high, but still well below the EU average for younger children. From the age of three, 97.4% of children participated in ECEC in 2023 (EU: 94.6%), exceeding the EU-level target of 96%. Nevertheless, regional coverage of kindergartens remains uneven: in 2022, 31% of municipalities had no kindergarten (Varga, 2024), typically in small villages where the number of kindergarten-aged children did not reach 8. The participation of children under three in formal childcare or education has marginally increased over the last decade (from 15.4% in 2015 to 16.4% in 2024) but remains well below the EU average (39.3%).

Students participating in childcare training programmes may receive a scholarship. In December 2024, Hungary launched a scholarship programme co-financed by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) aimed at supporting students in the last two years of their bachelor studies or vocational education and training. The objective is to ensure the availability of qualified staff in pre-school education institutions, therefore, students receiving the scholarship are required to take up employment in a kindergarten after completing their studies.

More people applied for pre-school education studies, but lowering qualification requirements may affect service quality. In 2025, there were a total of 13 980 applicants, 24% more than in the previous year. Of all applicants, 30.4% applied for full-time studies. These are likely to be new entrants to the profession, while part-time studies applicants are mostly practising teachers seeking further training or retraining. In 2020, the government changed employment conditions in kindergartens, reducing the required number of qualified teaching staff. As of January 2024, qualification requirements were further relaxed, allowing secondary VET graduates in kindergarten education to work as ECEC teachers, something that was previously only possible with a tertiary diploma. Since September 2020, kindergarten staff directly assisting education (such as pedagogical assistants and nursery attendants) may provide childcare only before 8 a.m. or in the afternoon—except for developmental, school-preparatory, or other explicitly educational activities.

3. School education and basic skills

Early school leaving decreased in 2024 but remains above the EU average. Early school leaving decreased for two consecutive years, in 2023 and 2024, and is now at 10.3%, against the EU average of 9.3% and the EU target of less than 9%. The rate is higher in the least developed regions, in villages (község) and among Roma (58.7%; non-Roma: 9.3% in 2023) (MNTFS, 2024). Regional differences are also large (Varga, 2025). Hungary lowered the school-leaving age from 18 to 16 in 2012. At age 16, 93.3% students participate in compulsory education, one of the lowest rates in the EU.

Many students have poor basic skills, especially disadvantaged students. In the 2022 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the share of disadvantaged students who reach a good level in at least one of the basic skills (reading, mathematics and science) is 12.1%, considerably below the EU average (16.3%). Of all students in the EU, low-achieving students in Hungary are the second most behind in performance compared to their high-achieving peers. Hungarian students scored above the international average in mathematics and science in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. However, among the participating countries, Hungary’s performance gap between the average mathematics scores of fourth grade students from more and less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds (131 points vs international average of 85) was one of the largest.

Hungarian students had above-average digital skills but also the largest performance gaps depending on levels of parental education. Eighth graders scored above the average of participating countries (505 vs 476 points) in the 2023 in the 2023 International Computer and Information Literacy Study (European Commission, 2024a). Of participating countries’ students, Hungarian students use computers and digital technology very little at school for school tasks but very intensively outside school, typically for non-study purposes (Fraillon, 2023). Despite Hungarian students’ above-average performance overall, 37% were low achievers – below the EU average of 43% but far above the EU target of less than 15%. Hungary lags behind in terms of equity: on average in the EU, there is a 33-point difference between the performance of a child of a graduate and a non-graduate parent, but this gap is 53 points in Hungary’s case.

Disadvantaged students are concentrated in certain schools. Hungary has the highest level of segregation of students from less and more advantaged socio-economic groups into different schools (Gutiérrez et al., 2020). Hungary’s segregation of the most and least disadvantaged students was the highest in the EU in the 2022 PISA study. The segregation of Roma pupils is the second highest in the region, with 62% of Roma children aged 6-15 attending schools where all or most pupils are Roma (FRA, 2025). Pupils in segregated schools are less likely to complete upper secondary education, pass the general secondary school leaving examination and enter tertiary education (Hermann & Kisfalusi, 2023). In schools with poor learning environments (where at least 50% of students in a class are below basic performance levels), not only are students disadvantaged, but teachers are often less prepared (Hermann & Horváth, 2022). In its 2025 country-specific recommendations, the Council of the EU recommended that Hungary take measures to improve education outcomes and increase the participation of disadvantaged groups, particularly Roma (EU Council, 2025). The 2025-2028 action plan of the Public Education Strategy includes measures to reduce segregation and inequalities in education.

Teacher shortages, linked to an ageing workforce, are a growing concern. According to the latest national data (KSH, 2025), on full-time employed teachers in primary schools, the number of teachers in the younger age group (30–44 years) has declined. As a result, half of all teachers in the 2024/2025 academic year were 50 or older, while only 7.2% of teachers were under 30. This is partly due to a relaxation of the rules for rehiring retired teachers in 2022. Teacher shortages are greatest in rural areas, with the proportion of unqualified teachers in disadvantaged schools 2 to 3 times higher than in schools not disadvantaged (Varga, 2024). There is no forecasting system for teacher supply and demand to support planning. In 2024, the government started to implement a major salary reform with co-financed by ESF+, to increase teachers’ salaries to at least 80% of the average salary of other tertiary graduates by January 2025. This level will be maintained until at least 2031, affecting around 140 000 teachers in school education. The measure is strongly linked to recommendations under the European Semester to increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession (Council of the EU, 2025). Initial teacher education (ITE) was also further reformed, expanding access to short master’s programmes. These changes have likely contributed to an increase in applicants for initial teacher education in the past two years, particularly for part-time (correspondence) programmes (Figure 1). In 2024, the number of admitted students to teacher education doubled compared to 2022, accounting for 15% of all applicants (OH, 2025d).

The continuing professional development scheme for teachers has been reformed. From 2025 onwards teachers need to obtain 120 credits over five years, including at least 60 credits in content renewal training and up to 60 in elective training (Government, 2024a). The content renewal courses are organised by the National University of Public Service, the elective courses by the Education Authority, and faith-based training by the recognised churches. For content renewal and optional courses, a teacher training programme may only be organised in line with i) the National Core Programme for Pre-school Education; ii) the national core curriculum and its educational objectives or iii) the general secondary education leaving examination requirements. It is the responsibility of school heads to plan and decide on in-service training courses for teachers on content renewal, while the choice of elective training is up to the teacher.

4. Vocational education and training

VET participation is increasing, but barriers to the progression of three-year VET students remain. In line with the government’s strategic goals, the number of students enrolled in upper secondary and post-secondary VET programmes has increased. Medium-level VET participation is high (56.5% in 2023 vs EU: 52.4%), with all post-secondary non-tertiary and 50.9% of upper secondary students enrolled in VET programmes. This is due to higher enrolment rates of young people on five-year VET courses, which lead to an upper secondary school leaving certificate giving access to higher education, as well as the possibility of obtaining a second VET qualification for free, attracting more adults to VET (over a quarter of all VET students were adult learners in 2023/2024). Nevertheless, almost 25% of secondary VET students (13% of all full-time upper secondary students) were enrolled in three-year VET programmes that do not give direct access to any further formal full-time studies.

VET students’ average performance in basic skills tends to be weaker, making it difficult for them to access the labour market. In PISA 2022, Hungarian students had one of the largest gaps in average mathematics performance between general and vocational programmes, largely due to differences in the socio-economic composition of the two educational paths. Three-year VET programmes are more affected by low achievement. In 2024, VET teachers could apply for a one-off grant of gross HUF 300 000 (~EUR 750) to give individual support to 2-5 students at risk of dropping out under the ‘Opportunity Creating Programme’. Despite low educational outcomes, the employment rate of recent VET graduates aged 20-34 was, at 84.2%, above the EU average (80.0%) in 2024, indicating a tight labour market. Increasing the taught time dedicated to basic skills and continuing to provide additional pedagogical support for low achievers as part of ESF+ programmes could help tackle low VET achievement.

Some measures to facilitate dual learning and access to university have been launched. In 2024, 43.1% of recent VET graduates were exposed to work-based learning during their studies, an increase, but still below the EU average (65.2%). In recent years, several measures have been implemented to improve VET students’ access to dual learning and higher education. As of 2020, vocational exams are recognised for admission to certain higher education programmes. In 2023/2024, following a pilot, a new type of programme, the ‘certified technician programme’, was offered in 97 VET schools in engineering, ICT and economics. This type of programme includes local curricula for the last three years of five-year VET programmes, jointly developed by the technikums (five-year technological programmes combining general and vocational education), universities and companies offering dual VET under cooperation agreements, with 24 universities participating in the programme. In 2024, an EU-funded project establishing ‘VET knowledge centres’, for dual training in VET and higher education, was launched.

5. Tertiary education

While tertiary diplomas hold high labour market value, attainment remains low. At 32.3%, the share of young people aged 25-34 holding a tertiary degree remains among the lowest in the EU (EU: 44.2%; EU-level target: 45.0%). The employment rate of recent tertiary graduates (93%) is above the EU average (86.7%), pointing to high demand. At the same time, applications to higher education were record high in 2025. For the 2025/2026 academic year, 129 730 people applied for higher education, 7.2% more than the year before. Low tertiary educational attainment is combined with low intergenerational educational mobility (cf. European Commission, 2024b). According to Eurostudent data, 58% of students have at least one parent with a tertiary degree (Szemerszki, 2023). The proportion of students with highly education parents is the highest in the fields of medicine and health sciences (70%), natural sciences (67%) and arts (64%) (Szemerszki, 2023).

Learning mobility remains limited. Hungary is one of the countries with the lowest (7.7% in 2023; EU: 11.0%) shares of graduates who completed part or all their studies abroad. In 2023, 10.4% of higher education graduates were graduates from abroad coming to study in Hungary (EU: 9.2%). Participation in the Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe programmes has been suspended for universities maintained by public interest trusts (PITs) since December 2022. Other universities and higher education institutions still have access to these EU programmes. This is because the Council of the EU decided to prohibit the European Commission from entering into legal commitments with PITs or entities that they maintain. The decision was motivated by concerns regarding breaches of the rule of law and the high risks such breaches entail for the EU budget. In December 2024, the European Commission adopted a decision concluding that Hungary had not sufficiently addressed breaches of the principles of the rule of law, so it decided to maintain measures to protect the EU budget. In response to the need to improve mobility indicators, the Hungarian government launched several mobility programmes, primarily the Pannonia Scholarship Programme. The lack of transparency and the operational rules of the PITs maintaining most universities put Hungary last in the EU in a recent study on academic freedom (European Parliament, 2025). Recent cases highlight the legal uncertainty of the relationship between PITs and universities and the lack of conflict-of-interest management on boards of trustees.

Hungaryadopted a renewed action plan for 2025-2026 (Government 2024b)for its higher education strategy (Government, 2016). The action plan sets out 22 objectives to be achieved through 57 interventions, each linked to specific performance indicators. The new target indicators to be attained by the end of 2026 include reducing the student drop-out rate from 17.76% in 2023 to 17% and increasing the proportion of socio-economically disadvantaged or Roma people and people living with disabilities to at least 7.6% of the total number of students admitted to higher education. To support the digital transformation of higher education, the action plan envisions the development of a minimum of 1 800 units of digital education content by April 2026, also supported under Hungary’s recovery and resilience plan. At least 2 800 academic staff members should also participate in mobility activities annually, with a minimum of 6.5% being involved in inclusive mobility activities. Further measures and indicators included in the document aim to improve the quality of higher education.

New legislative provisions have been introduced to support students with children and attract foreign graduates to return to Hungary. State scholarships will be made available to married university students under age 30 who have children. Amendments to the Higher Education Act (Parliament, 2024) mandate the automatic transfer of these students from self-financed to state-financed status. The law also requires higher education institutions to allow students with children under 14 to be absent from lectures and seminars for caregiving purposes, without exempting them from fulfilling their core academic obligations. For doctoral students with children, the deadline for thesis submission may be extended by up to three academic years in the event of childbirth or other cases as detailed in the relevant doctoral regulations. Following amendments to the Act on Social Administration and Social Benefits (Parliament, 1993), these students will also be eligible for a childcare allowance.

6. Adult skills and learning

Maintaining a high adult participation rate in learning is an opportunity to make Hungary’s workforce more competitive, but vulnerable groups need targeted support. In 2022, with 62.2% of adults participating in learning in the previous 12 months, Hungary performed above the EU average (39.5%) and exceeded its national target of 60% by 2030. Adults with a low level of educational attainment, unemployed people, and people outside the labour market participate less in learning (42.1%, 20.7% and 18.6%, respectively). To address skills shortages, in 2024 a regulation on short courses leading to micro-credentials and their certification was published, and the piloting of individual learning accounts between 2025 and 2027 was announced. The implementation of micro-credentials in Hungary would benefit from a single transparent approach across educational sectors and regular reviews drawing on stakeholder feedback, including learners. The adult training legal framework sets out the main features of a new adult learning fund (to be operational from 2027), which should finance policy development, labour market forecasting and large-scale training. Details on how individuals, especially the most vulnerable people, can benefit from the fund, as well as the source of funding, are not yet available.

Adults’ low basic skills and persistent inequalities seriously hamper competitiveness. The 2023 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) survey, which measures adult performance in literacy, numeracy and problem solving, showed Hungarian adults performing below the EU average in all areas. The 16-24 age group, who are still enrolled in initial education or have recently completed it, scored significantly below the average, signalling potential issues with the quality of education. Almost one in four adults are low achievers both in numeracy and literacy (24.1% vs EU: 21.8%), and the impact of a person’s parents’ educational background remains significant in adulthood. Educational attainment significantly influences labour market outcomes and wages. Adults’ low basic skills do not feature in the government’s policy agenda. A project supported by the ESF+ aims to improve the basic skills of people with low educational attainment and unemployed people. The ESF+ is to support digital skills development for about 180 000 disadvantaged adults with no or very limited digital skills by 2029.