Trade unions are calling for increased education investment, strengthened teaching profession support, and expanded support for learners following today’s publication of the OECD’s Education at a Glance 2025, which exposed mounting workforce pressures and persistent educational inequalities as education funding loses ground in government priorities, falling from 10.9% to 10.1% of total spending between 2015-2022.
The report revealed significant teacher workforce challenges, with attrition averaging 6.5% in 2022-23 across 19 countries and exceeding 10% in Denmark, Estonia and Lithuania. Early-career exits are common in several countries, whilst demographic pressures mount as secondary teachers aged 50 and above increased from 36% to 38% over the past decade.
As education unions have long warned, education systems have become increasingly reliant on non-fully-qualified teachers and temporary measures including substitutes and interim hires to address recruitment strain. Shortages remained uneven and typically worse in secondary education, varying by level, subject and region.
The report also presented concerning compensation trends, with inflation offsetting nominal gains in many countries. Around 13 countries experienced real pay declines, with Ireland suffering an alarming 10% decrease.
Educational inequality is persistent, despite gains in tertiary attainment. About 70% of young people with tertiary-educated parents achieve qualifications compared to just 26% when neither parent completed upper secondary education. Financial barriers compound these inequalities, with only 43% of first-time bachelor’s entrants completing on time. First-generation students are over-represented among non-completers, whilst reported reasons for not finishing include financial barriers alongside academic preparation gaps and programme mismatch. Heavy living-cost borrowing is shown to exist even in low-tuition systems, with average graduate debt around $46,000 in Norway, and to reach very high levels where fees are high, reaching around $68,700 in England. The report also showed tertiary education provides an earnings premium of 54% versus upper-secondary, and 83% at master’s and doctoral levels, demonstrating the lifelong costs of these inequalities.
The data also reveals concerning gaps in adult learning, with participation lower for older adults and those with low basic skills, with only 14% of adults with low numeracy participating compared to 28% of those with higher numeracy skills – highlighting the critical need for comprehensive lifelong learning support.
Governments cannot expect education systems to deliver quality outcomes and address inequality while cutting investment and overloading teachers. We need increased funding, protected working conditions, and genuine support for learners.
Responding to these challenges, TUAC calls for increased public investment so staffing and support aren’t first to be axed when budgets tighten. Trade unions demand protected non-contact time, capped cover loads, and maintained specialist support posts to prevent unmanageable workload increases for education staff. To address adult learning inequalities, TUAC emphasises the need for guaranteed adult-learning rights at work through paid training time, including paid study time where relevant, and targeted offers for low-skilled adults.
Image credit: OECD
