Monitor toolbox

Monitor toolbox by country

France

1. Key indicators

France EU
2015 2024 2015 2024
EU-level targets 2030 target
Participation in early childhood education (from age 3 to starting age of compulsory primary education)1 ≥ 96% 100% 100%23,p 91.9%d 94.6%23,d
Low achieving eighth-graders in digital skills2 < 15% 43.0%18 43.0%23 :18,z 43%23
Low achieving 15-year-olds in:3 Reading < 15% 21.5% 26.9%22 20.0% 26.2%22
Maths < 15% 23.5% 28.8%22 22.2% 29.5%22
Science < 15% 22.1% 23.8%22 21.1% 24.2%22
Early leavers from education and training (age 18-24)4 < 9%* 9.2% 7.7% 11.0% 9.4%
Exposure of VET graduates to work-based learning5 ≥60%(2025) 70.3%21 82.4% 60.3%21 65.2%
Tertiary educational attainment (age 25-34)6 ≥ 45%** 44.8% 53.4% 36.5% 44.1%
Participation of adults in learning (age 25-64)7 ≥ 60% 48.4%16 49.2%22 37.4%16 39.5%22
Proposed EU-level targets
Top-performing 15-year-olds in3 Reading ≥ 15% 12.5% 7.1%22 8.6% 6.5%22
Maths ≥ 15% 11.4% 7.4%22 10.7% 7.9%22
Science ≥ 15% 8.0% 7.7%22 7.1% 6.9%22
Enrolment in STEM fields in initial medium-level VET8 Overall ≥ 45% 36.6% 36.8%23 34.0%d 36.3%23,d
Of which, female ≥ 25% 8.9% 11.1%23 14.0%d 15.4%23,d
Enrolment in STEM fields at tertiary level9 Overall ≥ 32% 25.3% 23.7%23,b,d 27.6%d 26.9%23
Of which, female ≥ 40% 30.8% 34.7%23,b,d 29.4%d 32.2%23
Enrolment in ICT PhD programmes9 Overall ≥ 5% 4.1% 4.8%23,b,d 3.4%d 3.8%23
Of which, female ≥ 33% 24.9% 24.7%23,b,d 20.5%d 24.3%23
Equity indicator10,*** ≥ 25% 20.8% 14.4%22 21.1% 16.3%22
Civic knowledge11,*** ≥ 85% :16 62.9%22 72.5%16 63.1%22

Sources: 1 = Eurostat, [educ_uoe_enra21]; 2 = IEA (ICILS); 3 = OECD (PISA); 4 = Eurostat, [edat_lfse_14]; 5 = Eurostat, [edat_lfs_9919]; 6 = Eurostat, [edat_lfse_03]; 7 = Eurostat, [trng_aes_100], excluding guided on-the-job training; 8 = Eurostat, [educ_uoe_enra03]; 9 = Eurostat, [educ_uoe_enrt03]; 10 = European Commission (Joint Research Centre) calculations based on OECD PISA 2022 data; 11 = IEA (ICCS). More information (including gender breakdown or degree of urbanisation) can be found in the Monitor Toolbox. Notes: the indicator used (ECE) refers to early childhood education and care programmes which are considered by the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to be ‘educational’ and therefore constitute the first level of education in education and training systems – ISCED level 0; the equity indicator shows the share of 15-year-olds from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds performing well (at least level 4) in at least one domain (reading, mathematics and science) in the PISA tests; b = break in time series, d = definition differs, f = Flanders-only figure, m = missing values, nr = North Rhine Westphalia-only figure, p = provisional, u = low reliability, z = EU average not calculated due to limited coverage of Member States, figures to be interpreted with caution, : = not available, 16 = 2016, 18 = 2018, 21 = 2021, 22 = 2022, 23 = 2023, * = proposed new target for early leavers from education and training: < 7%, ** = proposed new target for tertiary educational attainment: 50%, *** = target suggested in the European Education Area (EEA) mid-term evaluation report.

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2. Position in relation to strongest and weakest performers

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Annex: Structure of the education system

The structure of European education systems (europa.eu)

Source: European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 'The structure of European education systems', Eurydice data and visuals, September 2025.

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