International Standard Classification of Education

Education levels

The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) is a statistical framework for organizing information on education maintained by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It is a member of the international family of economic and social classifications of the United Nations.^[1]

History

The ISCED was designed in the early 1970s to serve as an instrument suitable for assembling, compiling and presenting statistics of education both within individual countries and internationally.^[2] The first version, known as ISCED 1976, was approved by the International Conference on Education (Geneva, 1975), and was subsequently endorsed by UNESCO's 19th General Conference in 1976.

The second version, known as ISCED 1997, was approved by the UNESCO General Conference at its 29th session in November 1997 as part of efforts to increase the international comparability of education statistics. It covered primarily two cross-classification variables: levels (7) and fields of education (25). The UNESCO Institute for Statistics led the development of a third version, which was adopted by UNESCO's 36th General Conference in November 2011 and which will replace ISCED 1997 in international data collections in the coming years.^[3] ISCED 2011 has nine rather than seven levels, created by dividing the tertiary pre-doctorate level into three levels. It also extended the lowest level (ISCED 0) to cover a new sub-category of early childhood educational development programmes, which target children below the age of three years.

During the review and revision, which led to the adoption of ISCED 2011, UNESCO Member States agreed that the fields of education should be examined in a separate process. This review is now underway with the view to establishing an independent but related classification called the ISCED Fields of Education and Training.

Related materials from the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training and also Eurostat provide further information and statistical guidance for the classification of sub-fields of education as a companion to ISCED.^[4][5]

2011 version

ISCED 2011 levels, categories, and sub-categories

Source:International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED).^[6]

• 0 EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
  • 01 Early childhood educational development
    • 010 Early childhood educational development
  • 02 Pre-primary education
    • 020 Pre-primary education
• 1 PRIMARY EDUCATION
  • 10 Primary education
    • 100 Primary education
• 2 LOWER SECONDARY EDUCATION
  • 24 General
    • 241 Insufficient for level completion or partial level completion, without direct access to upper secondary education
    • 242 Sufficient for partial level completion, without direct access to upper secondary education
    • 243 Sufficient for level completion, without direct access to upper secondary education
    • 244 Sufficient for level completion, with direct access to upper secondary education
  • 25 Vocational
    • 251 Insufficient for level completion or partial level completion, without direct access to upper secondary education
    • 252 Sufficient for partial level completion, without direct access to upper secondary education
    • 253 Sufficient for level completion, without direct access to upper secondary education
    • 254 Sufficient for level completion, with direct access to upper secondary education^[6]
• 3 UPPER SECONDARY EDUCATION
  • 34 General
    • 341 Insufficient for level completion or partial level completion, without direct access to tertiary education
    • 342 Sufficient for partial level completion, without direct access to tertiary education
    • 343 Sufficient for level completion, without direct access to tertiary education
    • 344 Sufficient for level completion, with direct access to tertiary education
  • 35 Vocational
    • 351 Insufficient for level completion or partial level completion, without direct access to tertiary education
    • 352 Sufficient for partial level completion, without direct access to tertiary education
    • 353 Sufficient for level completion, without direct access to tertiary education
    • 354 Sufficient for level completion, with direct access to tertiary education^[6]
• 4 POST-SECONDARY NON-TERTIARY EDUCATION
  • 44 General
    • 441 Insufficient for level completion, without direct access to tertiary education
    • 443 Sufficient for level completion, without direct access to tertiary education
    • 444 Sufficient for level completion, with direct access to tertiary education
  • 45 Vocational
    • 451 Insufficient for level completion, without direct access to tertiary education
    • 453 Sufficient for level completion, without direct access to tertiary education
    • 454 Sufficient for level completion, with direct access to tertiary education^[6]
• 5 SHORT-CYCLE TERTIARY EDUCATION
  • 54 General
    • 541 Insufficient for level completion
    • 544 Sufficient for level completion
  • 55 Vocational
    • 551 Insufficient for level completion
    • 554 Sufficient for level completion ^[6]
• 6 BACHELOR'S OR EQUIVALENT LEVEL
  • 64 Academic
    • 641 Insufficient for level completion
    • 645 First degree (3–4 years)
    • 646 Long first degree (more than 4 years)
    • 647 Second or further degree (following a bachelor's or equivalent programme)
  • 65 Professional
    • 651 Insufficient for level completion
    • 655 First degree (3–4 years)
    • 656 Long first degree (more than 4 years)
    • 657 Second or further degree (following a bachelor's or equivalent programme)
  • 66 Orientation unspecified1
    • 661 Insufficient for level completion
    • 665 First degree (3–4 years)
    • 666 Long first degree (more than 4 years)
    • 667 Second or further degree (following a bachelor's or equivalent programme)^[6]
• 7 MASTER'S OR EQUIVALENT LEVEL
  • 74 Academic
    • 741 Insufficient for level completion
    • 746 Long first degree (at least 5 years)
    • 747 Second or further degree (following a bachelor's or equivalent programme)
    • 748 Second or further degree (following a master's or equivalent programme)
  • 75 Professional
    • 751 Insufficient for level completion
    • 756 Long first degree (at least 5 years)
    • 757 Second or further degree (following a bachelor's or equivalent programme)
    • 758 Second or further degree (following a master's or equivalent programme)
  • 76 Orientation unspecified1
    • 761 Insufficient for level completion
    • 766 Long first degree (at least 5 years)
    • 767 Second or further degree (following a bachelor's or equivalent programme)
    • 768 Second or further degree (following a master's or equivalent programme)^[6]
• 8 DOCTORAL OR EQUIVALENT LEVEL
  • 84 Academic
    • 841 Insufficient for level completion
    • 844 Sufficient for completion of level
  • 85 Professional
    • 851 Insufficient for level completion
    • 854 Sufficient for completion of level
  • 86 Orientation unspecified
    • 861 Insufficient for level completion
    • 864 Sufficient for completion of level^[6]
• 9 NOT ELSEWHERE CLASSIFIED
  • 99 Not elsewhere classified
    • 999 Not elsewhere classified

1997 version

ISCED 1997 fields of education

• 0 General programmes
  • 01 Basic programmes
  • 08 Literacy and numeracy
  • 09 Personal development
• 1 Education
  • 14 Teacher training and education science
• 2 Humanities and arts
  • 21 Arts
  • 22 Humanities
• 3 Social sciences, business and law
  • 31 Social and behavioural science
  • 32 Journalism and information
  • 34 Business and administration
  • 38 Law
• 4 Science
  • 42 Life sciences
  • 44 Physical sciences
  • 46 Mathematics and statistics
  • 48 Computing
• 5 Engineering, manufacturing and construction
  • 52 Engineering and engineering trades
  • 54 Manufacturing and processing
  • 58 Architecture and building
• 6 Agriculture
  • 62 Agriculture, forestry and fishery
  • 64 Veterinary
• 7 Health and welfare
  • 72 Health
  • 76 Social services
• 8 Services
  • 81 Personal services
  • 84 Transport services
  • 85 Environmental protection
  • 86 Security services
• Not known or unspecified

Comparison between versions

See also

• European Qualifications Framework (EQF) for a similar European-based level system
• UNESCO nomenclature for fields of science and technology
• International Standard Classification of Occupations

References

1. "United Nations Statistics Division: UN Classifications Registry". United Nations. Archived from the original on 2022-06-11. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
2. "UNESCO, International Standard Classification of Education". UNESCO. 16 March 2017. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
3. "Revision of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED)" (PDF). 2013-01-24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
4. "CEDEFOR, Manual: Fields of training 1999" (PDF). CEDEFOR. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-02-06. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
5. "Eurostat, 1999. Manual: Fields of education and training" (PDF). Eurostat.^{[permanent dead link]}
6. "Annex III in the English ISCED 2011, International Standard Classification of Education" (PDF). 2013-01-24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2023-02-06.

External links

• Official website
• ISCED 2011 classification
• Roadmap to compare education systems: examples of how ISCED is applied to national education systems.
• EU Council Directive 2009/50/EC: ISCED 1997 education levels required for EU Blue Card Visa.