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Introduction
The ISCED was designed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the early 1970s to serve as an instrument suitable for assembling, compiling and presenting comparable indicators and statistics of education, both within countries and internationally. The original version of ISCED (ISCED-76) classified educational programmes by their content along two main axes: levels of education and fields of education. The cross-classification variables were maintained in the revised ISCED-97; however, the rules and criteria for allocating programmes to a level of education were clarified and tightened, and the fields of education were further elaborated. In 2011, a new classification ISCED 2011 was introduced; however, reporting according to ISCED-11 did not start until 2014.
Aggregate levels of education
Aggregate levels of education presented in ILOSTAT are based on the following concordances with ISCED-11 and ISCED-97.
| Aggregate level of education | ISCED-11 | ISCED-97 |
|---|---|---|
| Less than basic | X. No schooling | X. No schooling |
| 0. Early childhood education | 0. Pre-primary education | |
| Basic | 1. Primary education | 1. Primary education or first stage of basic education |
| 2. Lower secondary education | 2. Lower secondary or second stage of basic education | |
| Intermediate | 3. Upper secondary education | 3. Upper secondary education |
| 4. Post-secondary non-tertiary education | 4. Post-secondary non-tertiary education | |
| Advanced | 5. Short-cycle tertiary education | 5. First stage of tertiary education (not leading directly to an advanced research qualification) |
| 6. Bachelor’s or equivalent level | ||
| 7. Master’s or equivalent level | ||
| 8. Doctoral or equivalent level | 6. Second stage of tertiary education (leading to an advanced research qualification) | |
| Level not stated | 9. Not elsewhere classified | ?. Level not stated |
ISCED-11
X. No schooling
0. Early childhood education
1. Primary education
2. Lower secondary education
3. Upper secondary education
4. Post-secondary non-tertiary education
5. Short-cycle tertiary education
6. Bachelor’s or equivalent level
7. Master’s or equivalent level
8. Doctoral or equivalent level
9. Not elsewhere classified
ISCED-97
X. No schooling
0. Pre-primary education
1. Primary education or first stage of basic education
2. Lower secondary or second stage of basic education
3. Upper secondary education
4. Post-secondary non-tertiary education
5. First stage of tertiary education (not leading directly to an advanced research qualification)
6. Second stage of tertiary education (leading to an advanced research qualification)
?. Level not stated