Eurydice

The diagram on 'early childhood and school education' shows the main full-time education programmes from pre-primary to post-secondary non-tertiary levels:

• Early childhood education and care (ECEC) encompasses educational or developmental programmes as well as childcare services for children from the youngest age of enrolment. It covers centre-based ECEC provision that is delivered in dedicated facilities primarily intended for the care and education of young children as well as publicly regulated home-based ECEC (childminding service) that is delivered in a provider's home or other home-like places. ECEC includes programmes classified as ISCED 0 (early childhood education), as well as childcare services not falling under ISCED 0, which is denoted as 'non-ISCED ECEC'. However, 'out-of-school' care or supplementary ECEC provision to complete the full day are not included.
• Primary education programmes (ISCED 1).
• Lower and upper secondary general and vocational education programmes (ISCED 2-3). For vocational education programmes, a distinction is made between predominantly school-based or combined work-based and school-based programmes. School-based vocational programmes have either no or only optional work-based learning in their curriculum, or any compulsory work-based learning accounts for less than 25% of the curriculum. Combined work-based and school-based vocational programmes include 25% or more of work-based learning in the curriculum.
• Post-secondary non-tertiary programmes (ISCED 4).

The diagrams include only education programmes provided by public education institutions, with the exception of Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands, where government-dependent private institutions are also taken into account. In the case of ECEC, all publicly regulated programmes are included, even if providers are mostly private.

The education programmes are displayed in relation to the age of students when they start a particular programme. The ages are notional, i.e. they indicate the theoretical age at which students are expected to enter an education level or begin a study programme. Early or late entry, grade retention or other interruptions in schooling are not taken into account. The diagram represents the theoretical duration of the programme. In case this varies, the length refers to the most common duration of a type of programme.

In general, educational programmes are ordered on the basis of the following criteria: 1. notional starting age of children/students, 2. ISCED level of the education programme, 3. education programme orientation (general programmes followed by vocational programmes), 4. education programme duration, 5. school/work-based dimension (school-based programmes followed by combined school- and work-based programmes). These rules may be slightly amended to group together education programmes provided by the same type of school.

In some education systems, children/students have the opportunity to attend an 'optional transition year', most often at the end of lower secondary/beginning of upper secondary education, but also earlier, even at the beginning of primary education. This additional optional year does not need to be completed in order to end an education cycle or level, and neither it is necessary for accessing a higher educational level. By completing them, students do not receive any qualification. As the optional transition years exist in parallel to the main education pathways, and students have the option whether to delay their studies by attending them, they are displayed using a special symbol (see Quick guide).

The diagrams also indicate the length of full-time and part-time compulsory education and training. Full-time compulsory education and training refers to the period when full-time education/training is compulsory for all students. Part-time compulsory education and training may take place before or after full-time compulsory education and indicate either compulsory early childhood education care programmes of less than 250 hours a year, or additional part-time school-based or workplace education/training following full-time compulsory education.

The diagrams present the main education programmes at tertiary level:

• Short-cycle tertiary education programmes (ISCED 5). While the categorisation of programmes can be based on different criteria, these diagrams distinguish between programmes organised on the basis of ECTS credits (short-cycle higher education programmes) and those that are not (vocational ISCED 5).
• Bachelor's or equivalent level programmes (ISCED 6).
• Master's or equivalent level programmes (ISCED 7).
• Doctoral or equivalent level programmes (ISCED 8).

The diagrams include only education programmes provided by public education institutions, with the exception of Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands, where government-dependent private institutions are also taken into account.

The education programmes are displayed in relation to the most common notional number of years spent in tertiary education before and during a given programme. Notional years are calculated on the basis of ECTS requirements (where applicable: 60 ECTS corresponds to one academic year), assuming the students attend these programmes on a full-time basis. The duration of part-time studies or individualised study patterns are not shown. Part-time programmes are only included if part-time enrolment is the only option for students. In the case of ISCED 8, ECTS is used to give an approximate indication of the expected workload and length of the programmes.

Educational programmes are grouped together by type of higher education institution. Within each institution type, education programmes are ordered on the basis of the following criteria: 1. ISCED level of the education programme; 2. number of years since the beginning of tertiary education at the start of the education programme (for example, the notional number of years spent in first-cycle programmes before being able to enter the second cycle) and 3. education programme duration.

The diagrams do not show all tertiary programmes that exist in an education system. Programmes at the same education level sharing the same characteristics may have different durations depending on differences in ECTS requirements. However, the diagrams do not show this variation; for each programme category, only the most common programme durations/ECTS requirements are depicted. Differences are only shown if there is no dominant model. Information on the different workload requirements for Bachelor's and Master's or equivalent programmes is available by country in Tables 2.1 and 2.2 of the Annex of report The European Higher Education Area in 2024: Bologna Process Implementation Report).

This approach is also followed in the case of long/integrated programmes: only the programmes with the higher number of students are displayed. This means that those programmes which are part of the regulated professions defined by Directive 2005/36/EC (including medicine, dentistry, nursing, veterinary science and architecture) are not always depicted separately by the diagram.

Programmes that build on a degree-programme in a restricted field or specialisation (e.g. specialist medical training or complementary diplomas related to specific professions) are not included in the diagram. In the case of medical studies, for example, even if depicted separately, only the basic medical training is included, as defined by Article 24 of Directive 2005/36/EC, regardless of whether or not it allows degree holders to practice medicine.

In a few education systems, for some tertiary programmes, compulsory work experience is required to move to the next education level or to begin a particular education programme. When this is applicable, the minimum required duration of such work experience is indicated on the diagram.

There are three main programme types which typically enrol fewer students than 1% of the total student population:

1. Arts education programmes
   In some education systems, programmes in arts education (music, dance, etc.) are organised separately from lower or upper secondary education onwards. These programmes are often offered by designated educational institutions such as conservatories of music / dance / performing arts. While these institutions and programmes can be a very important part of education systems, the number of students enrolled are often very low in comparison to mainstream institutions. For this reason, arts education programmes and dedicated institutional settings are not shown on the diagrams. The countries concerned are Czechia, Spain, Italy (for some tertiary programmes), Portugal, Slovakia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
2. Short vocational programmes
   Some education systems offer short vocational programmes at lower secondary (e.g. Latvia, Lithuania) or upper secondary level (e.g. Czechia, Hungary), which provide basic lower or upper secondary qualifications, and typically provide only limited access to higher-level programmes. When these programmes are attended by very few students only, they are not shown on the diagrams.
3. Bridging programmes
   Bridging programmes are upper secondary education programmes through which an upper secondary school leaving qualification or equivalent can be obtained, which provides access to higher education. Bridging programmes are typically organised as (a) possible additional year(s) following lower-level upper secondary programmes. Given the structural importance of these programmes in an education system, they are displayed even if student enrolment does not exceed 1%.