International Standard Classification of Education

International Standard Classification of Education
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.
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. 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. ISCED 2011 has 9 rather than 7 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 3 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.
2011 version
ISCED 2011 levels, categories, and sub-categories
Source:International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED).
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
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
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
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 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)
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)
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
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
External links
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.
Works about academia
UNESCO
Educational classification systems
Educational stages
School systems
Statistics of education