Eurostat most recent available official data are from 2018, when there were around 76.2 million pupils and students enrolled in schools and pre-schools in the EU across all of these education levels.
However, the exact sum without rounding was closer to 76.1 million.
There were 15.7 million children in early childhood education. In primary education, typically starting at ages 5 to 7 years old and lasting around six years, there were 24.5 million pupils enrolled.
Secondary education is divided in lower and upper level.
In 2018, 18.3 million students were enrolled in lower secondary education, with students typically entering when they are 10 to 13 years old, typically finishing nine years after the start of primary education when students are at an age of 15-16 year old.
Finally, there were 17.7 million students in upper secondary education in 2018, covering both general studies and vocational studies. Upper secondary school typically ends 12-13 years after the students entered their primary education.
Altogether,
How many students each teacher is responsible for?
For the pre-school children, there was on average one educator per 10.9 children in 2018. For primary school, the classes were somewhat larger, with on average 13.6 pupils per teacher.
At secondary level, teachers are usually specialised and teach specific subjects to different classes.
On average in the EU, there were 12.0 students per teacher at lower secondary level and 11.3 at upper secondary level in 2018.
