Education
Compulsory education
SE.COM.DURS ยท yrs
Annual series published by the World Bank. The chart carries the trajectory, the table carries the year by year figures, and the definition at the foot of the page is the World Bank's own, quoted as it stands.
Countries compared
8 countries compared out of 142 available.
Latest known value: 11 yrs for United Kingdom in 2025, over a series running from 1998 to 2025 and 8 countries compared, from the highest (Netherlands, 13 yrs) to the lowest (South Sudan, 8 yrs).
Compare with the other education indicatorsLatest known valueclick to hide
Year by year values
Click the Year header to reverse the order. An empty cell means the World Bank publishes nothing for that country that year.
| United Kingdom | Spain | Netherlands | United States | China | South Sudan | Sierra Leone | Bosnia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2024 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2023 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2022 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2021 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2020 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2019 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2018 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2017 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2016 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2015 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2014 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2013 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2012 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2011 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2010 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2009 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2008 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs |
| 2007 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs | |
| 2006 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs | |
| 2005 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs | |
| 2004 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | |
| 2003 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | ||
| 2002 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | ||
| 2001 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | ||
| 2000 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | ||
| 1999 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | ||
| 1998 | 11 yrs | 10 yrs | 13 yrs | 12 yrs | 9 yrs | 8 yrs | ||
| 1997 | 13 yrs |
World Bank definition
Compulsory education, duration (years)
Duration of compulsory education is the number of years that children are legally obliged to attend school.
Text published by the World Bank for indicator SE.COM.DURS, reproduced unchanged.
The same indicator across Europe & Central Asia
Source: World Bank, World Bank Open Data Annual series, fetched server side and cached for 24 hours. The World Bank is never called from your browser.
