This Eurydice report focuses on adult education and training in Europe. It investigates current approaches to promoting lifelong learning, with a particular emphasis on policies and measures supporting adults with low levels of skills and qualifications to access learning opportunities. Starting with a range of quantitative indicators related to adult education and training (Chapter 1), the report examines national arrangements for coordinating adult learning policies and measures (Chapter 2).

Do you wonder how the academic calendar is structured this year, especially after COVID19 hugely impacted our higher education systems?

This publication, based on national data, gives accurate information on the beginning of the academic year, term times, holidays and examination periods.

Differences between university and non-university study programmes are also highlighted. The information is available for 37 countries.

How is the school year organised across Europe?

Effective learning depends on many factors, but undoubtedly, the instruction time available to students plays a key role in their learning process. Along with the quality of instruction and the time available for learning after school, the increase in the amount of instruction time allocated to a discipline can help to raise students’ interest in that subject and can have positive effect on students’ performance.

Teachers play an essential role in the learning process and in making it a fruitful experience for all students. The pandemic, the rapid transition from face-to-face to distance learning have further highlighted their essential contribution to our societies. If in one hand, teachers’ role is evolving as new demands and expectations arise, together with new responsibilities, on the other hand, this profession has been going through a vocational crisis for some years now.

In 2020, Eurydice published a number of reports on various educational topics.

An overview of our 2020 publications is now available. With just one click, you can easily get access to all our reports!

This Eurydice Brief presents the main findings of the Eurydice report Equity in school education in Europe. The report provides an overview of education structures and policies that influence equity in school education. It connects these system-level features to student performance in international student assessment surveys (PISA, PIRLS and TIMSS).

The availability of financial resources to fund studies is an important factor when it comes to access higher education. In particular, disadvantaged students are highly sensitive to the availability of sufficient funds. Finding sustainable solutions for financing higher education, while guaranteeing the right conditions for students to study in higher education, is one of the challenges of governments.

Full report EN

Full report EN UK