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World data · 194 countries · updated October 2026

School starting age by country

The age at which compulsory schooling begins in each of 194 countries, from four to seven — and what the evidence says about whether starting earlier helps.

The short answer

United Kingdom leads the 194 countries ranked here on school starting age at age 4, followed by Ireland at age 4 and Mauritius at age 5. The median country is Singapore at age 6, against a world average of age 6.

#1 age 4 United Kingdom Europe & Central Asia #2 age 4 Ireland Europe & Central Asia #3 age 5 Mauritius Sub-Saharan Africa Median age 6 Singapore The middle of 194
World age 6 World average Population-weighted

What this measures

The official age at which compulsory education begins, from UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

What it does not

Official starting age and actual first classroom experience often differ. Pre-school and kindergarten attendance is widespread well below the compulsory age in most high-income countries.

The bottom of the table

El Salvador age 7
Estonia age 7
Latvia age 7
Lithuania age 7

Bars are scaled across the full observed range (age 4 to age 7), not to 100%, so the real spread is visible.

How the values are spread

Where the 194 countries fall

The range from age 4 to age 7 is split into 10 equal bands, and each bar counts the countries in one band.

Most countries sit in one band because a few very large values stretch the range. The ranking table below shows the differences within it.

Number of countries in each band of school starting age
BandCountriesIncluding
4.00 to 4.30 (age) 2 United Kingdom, Ireland
4.30 to 4.60 (age) 0 —
4.60 to 4.90 (age) 0 —
4.90 to 5.20 (age) 29 Mauritius, Malta, Pakistan and 26 more
5.20 to 5.50 (age) 0 —
5.50 to 5.80 (age) 0 —
5.80 to 6.10 (age) 134 Nigeria, DR Congo, Kenya and 131 more
6.10 to 6.40 (age) 0 —
6.40 to 6.70 (age) 0 —
6.70 to 7.00 (age) 29 Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa and 26 more

How this is built: each band is one tenth of the gap between the lowest and highest value; a country is counted in the band its value falls in, and the top band includes the highest value. Countries with no comparable figure are left out. Chart drawn with Apache ECharts.

The full ranking

All 194 countries

Click any column heading to re-sort. Type to filter, or pick a region. Every country name links to its full profile.

194 countries shown

School starting age by country, ranked. Column headings re-sort the table.
Rank Country School starting age Bar Region Gen Alpha
#1 United Kingdom age 4
Europe & Central Asia 12m
#2 Ireland age 4
Europe & Central Asia 1m
#3 Mauritius age 5
Sub-Saharan Africa 184k
#4 Malta age 5
Middle East & North Africa 71k
#5 Pakistan age 5
South Asia 80m
#6 Nepal age 5
South Asia 8m
#7 Sri Lanka age 5
South Asia 4m
#8 Philippines age 5
East Asia & Pacific 32m
#9 Myanmar age 5
East Asia & Pacific 13m
#10 Australia age 5
Oceania 5m
#11 New Zealand age 5
Oceania 1m
#12 Samoa age 5
Oceania 84k
#13 Netherlands age 5
Europe & Central Asia 3m
#14 Gibraltar age 5
Europe & Central Asia 7k
#15 United States age 5
North America 62m
#16 Canada age 5
North America 6m
#17 Bermuda age 5
North America 9k
#18 Colombia age 5
Latin America 11m
#19 Argentina age 5
Latin America 11m
#20 Trinidad and Tobago age 5
Latin America 265k
#21 Belize age 5
Latin America 113k
#22 Bahamas age 5
Latin America 71k
#23 Barbados age 5
Latin America 48k
#24 St Lucia age 5
Latin America 31k
#25 Grenada age 5
Latin America 22k
#26 St Vincent and the Grenadines age 5
Latin America 21k
#27 Antigua and Barbuda age 5
Latin America 17k
#28 Cayman Islands age 5
Latin America 12k
#29 Dominica age 5
Latin America 12k
#30 St Kitts and Nevis age 5
Latin America 9k
#31 British Virgin Islands age 5
Latin America 6k
#32 Nigeria age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 95m
#33 DR Congo age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 44m
#34 Kenya age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 19m
#35 Uganda age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 20m
#36 Sudan age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 19m
#37 Angola age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 15m
#38 Mozambique age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 14m
#39 Ghana age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 12m
#40 Madagascar age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 13m
#41 Côte d'Ivoire age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 12m
#42 Cameroon age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 12m
#43 Burkina Faso age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 10m
#44 Malawi age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 9m
#45 Chad age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 10m
#46 Somalia age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 10m
#47 Senegal age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 7m
#48 Zimbabwe age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 7m
#49 Benin age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 6m
#50 Rwanda age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 6m
#51 South Sudan age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 5m
#52 Togo age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 4m
#53 Sierra Leone age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 3m
#54 Republic of the Congo age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 3m
#55 Liberia age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 2m
#56 Central African Republic age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 3m
#57 Mauritania age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 2m
#58 Eritrea age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 1m
#59 Gabon age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 959k
#60 Lesotho age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 815k
#61 Guinea-Bissau age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 881k
#62 Eswatini age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 419k
#63 Comoros age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 331k
#64 Cape Verde age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 131k
#65 São Tomé and Príncipe age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 92k
#66 Seychelles age 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 27k
#67 Egypt age 6
Middle East & North Africa 34m
#68 Iran age 6
Middle East & North Africa 18m
#69 Turkey age 6
Middle East & North Africa 19m
#70 Algeria age 6
Middle East & North Africa 14m
#71 Iraq age 6
Middle East & North Africa 16m
#72 Yemen age 6
Middle East & North Africa 18m
#73 Morocco age 6
Middle East & North Africa 10m
#74 Saudi Arabia age 6
Middle East & North Africa 9m
#75 Syria age 6
Middle East & North Africa 8m
#76 Tunisia age 6
Middle East & North Africa 3m
#77 Jordan age 6
Middle East & North Africa 4m
#78 United Arab Emirates age 6
Middle East & North Africa 2m
#79 Israel age 6
Middle East & North Africa 3m
#80 Libya age 6
Middle East & North Africa 2m
#81 Lebanon age 6
Middle East & North Africa 2m
#82 Oman age 6
Middle East & North Africa 1m
#83 Palestine age 6
Middle East & North Africa 2m
#84 Kuwait age 6
Middle East & North Africa 917k
#85 Qatar age 6
Middle East & North Africa 476k
#86 Bahrain age 6
Middle East & North Africa 309k
#87 Djibouti age 6
Middle East & North Africa 345k
#88 India age 6
South Asia 327m
#89 Bangladesh age 6
South Asia 44m
#90 Maldives age 6
South Asia 101k
#91 China age 6
East Asia & Pacific 230m
#92 Japan age 6
East Asia & Pacific 14m
#93 Vietnam age 6
East Asia & Pacific 23m
#94 Thailand age 6
East Asia & Pacific 11m
#95 South Korea age 6
East Asia & Pacific 6m
#96 Malaysia age 6
East Asia & Pacific 8m
#97 Laos age 6
East Asia & Pacific 2m
#98 Singapore age 6
East Asia & Pacific 690k
#99 Mongolia age 6
East Asia & Pacific 1m
#100 Timor-Leste age 6
East Asia & Pacific 476k
#101 Brunei age 6
East Asia & Pacific 97k
#102 Kiribati age 6
Oceania 48k
#103 Micronesia age 6
Oceania 36k
#104 Tonga age 6
Oceania 36k
#105 Marshall Islands age 6
Oceania 12k
#106 Palau age 6
Oceania 3k
#107 Nauru age 6
Oceania 5k
#108 Tuvalu age 6
Oceania 3k
#109 Germany age 6
Europe & Central Asia 12m
#110 France age 6
Europe & Central Asia 12m
#111 Italy age 6
Europe & Central Asia 7m
#112 Spain age 6
Europe & Central Asia 6m
#113 Ukraine age 6
Europe & Central Asia 6m
#114 Kazakhstan age 6
Europe & Central Asia 6m
#115 Romania age 6
Europe & Central Asia 3m
#116 Belgium age 6
Europe & Central Asia 2m
#117 Azerbaijan age 6
Europe & Central Asia 2m
#118 Czechia age 6
Europe & Central Asia 2m
#119 Portugal age 6
Europe & Central Asia 1m
#120 Greece age 6
Europe & Central Asia 1m
#121 Austria age 6
Europe & Central Asia 1m
#122 Switzerland age 6
Europe & Central Asia 1m
#123 Belarus age 6
Europe & Central Asia 1m
#124 Turkmenistan age 6
Europe & Central Asia 2m
#125 Denmark age 6
Europe & Central Asia 937k
#126 Norway age 6
Europe & Central Asia 900k
#127 Slovakia age 6
Europe & Central Asia 849k
#128 Georgia age 6
Europe & Central Asia 780k
#129 Bosnia and Herzegovina age 6
Europe & Central Asia 400k
#130 Armenia age 6
Europe & Central Asia 557k
#131 Albania age 6
Europe & Central Asia 457k
#132 Slovenia age 6
Europe & Central Asia 306k
#133 North Macedonia age 6
Europe & Central Asia 298k
#134 Cyprus age 6
Europe & Central Asia 222k
#135 Luxembourg age 6
Europe & Central Asia 108k
#136 Montenegro age 6
Europe & Central Asia 112k
#137 Iceland age 6
Europe & Central Asia 70k
#138 Andorra age 6
Europe & Central Asia 10k
#139 Monaco age 6
Europe & Central Asia 5k
#140 San Marino age 6
Europe & Central Asia 4k
#141 Mexico age 6
North America 31m
#142 Brazil age 6
Latin America 44m
#143 Peru age 6
Latin America 8m
#144 Venezuela age 6
Latin America 7m
#145 Chile age 6
Latin America 4m
#146 Guatemala age 6
Latin America 6m
#147 Ecuador age 6
Latin America 4m
#148 Bolivia age 6
Latin America 3m
#149 Haiti age 6
Latin America 4m
#150 Dominican Republic age 6
Latin America 3m
#151 Honduras age 6
Latin America 3m
#152 Cuba age 6
Latin America 2m
#153 Nicaragua age 6
Latin America 2m
#154 Paraguay age 6
Latin America 2m
#155 Costa Rica age 6
Latin America 947k
#156 Panama age 6
Latin America 1m
#157 Uruguay age 6
Latin America 605k
#158 Puerto Rico age 6
Latin America 362k
#159 Jamaica age 6
Latin America 518k
#160 Guyana age 6
Latin America 243k
#161 Suriname age 6
Latin America 163k
#162 Curaçao age 6
Latin America 27k
#163 Aruba age 6
Latin America 18k
#164 Turks and Caicos Islands age 6
Latin America 8k
#165 Sint Maarten age 6
Latin America 7k
#166 Ethiopia age 7
Sub-Saharan Africa 48m
#167 Tanzania age 7
Sub-Saharan Africa 28m
#168 South Africa age 7
Sub-Saharan Africa 17m
#169 Mali age 7
Sub-Saharan Africa 12m
#170 Zambia age 7
Sub-Saharan Africa 9m
#171 Guinea age 7
Sub-Saharan Africa 6m
#172 Namibia age 7
Sub-Saharan Africa 1m
#173 Gambia age 7
Sub-Saharan Africa 1m
#174 Equatorial Guinea age 7
Sub-Saharan Africa 736k
#175 Afghanistan age 7
Middle East & North Africa 17m
#176 Indonesia age 7
East Asia & Pacific 68m
#177 North Korea age 7
East Asia & Pacific 5m
#178 Russia age 7
Europe & Central Asia 26m
#179 Uzbekistan age 7
Europe & Central Asia 12m
#180 Poland age 7
Europe & Central Asia 6m
#181 Tajikistan age 7
Europe & Central Asia 4m
#182 Sweden age 7
Europe & Central Asia 2m
#183 Hungary age 7
Europe & Central Asia 1m
#184 Kyrgyzstan age 7
Europe & Central Asia 2m
#185 Bulgaria age 7
Europe & Central Asia 960k
#186 Serbia age 7
Europe & Central Asia 947k
#187 Finland age 7
Europe & Central Asia 806k
#188 Croatia age 7
Europe & Central Asia 524k
#189 Moldova age 7
Europe & Central Asia 578k
#190 Lithuania age 7
Europe & Central Asia 406k
#191 Latvia age 7
Europe & Central Asia 279k
#192 Estonia age 7
Europe & Central Asia 203k
#193 Liechtenstein age 7
Europe & Central Asia 6k
#194 El Salvador age 7
Latin America 2m

Reading the table

This is one of the most-asked and least-answered questions about childhood, and the range is only three years: four to seven.

The United Kingdom and Ireland start at four, the earliest in the world. Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, Indonesia, Poland, Sweden and Russia start at seven. Most of the world sits at six.

The interesting part is that the three-year gap does not produce a three-year advantage. Sweden and Finland start at seven and are consistently at or near the top of international comparisons by age eleven. The research consensus is that the age itself matters far less than what happens before it — whether the years before school are spent in a language-rich environment — and that early formal instruction shows no durable measurable advantage by the end of primary school.

For Generation Beta this is a dated question with a real answer. A Beta born on 1 January 2025 starts school in 2029 in the UK and in 2032 in Sweden.

Run the numbers yourself

Tools that use this data

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Frequently asked

What age do children start school around the world?

Between four and seven. The United Kingdom and Ireland start at four, most countries start at six, and Sweden, Poland, Ethiopia, Indonesia and several others start at seven.

Which country starts school earliest?

The United Kingdom and Ireland, both at age four.

Is it better to start school earlier?

The evidence does not support it. Countries starting at seven, such as Sweden and Finland, show no measurable disadvantage by age eleven. What happens before school appears to matter more than when school begins.

When will the first Generation Beta children start school?

In 2029 in countries starting at four, 2031 in countries starting at six, and 2032 in countries starting at seven.

How many countries are in this table?

This table ranks 194 countries with a comparable figure, out of the 194 countries profiled on AlphaBetaMinds. The countries in this table hold about 98% of the world population.

Can I reuse this data?

Yes, free of charge and commercially, with a credit to AlphaBetaMinds and a link to this page. The full dataset is also available as plain text at https://alphabetaminds.com/llms-countries.txt.

Other data tables
Generation Alpha population Generation Alpha share of population Projected Generation Beta births Under-15 population share Total fertility rate Median age Births per day Compulsory years of schooling Secondary school completion Daily screen time, ages 8–12 Internet use Cost of raising a child to 18 Life expectancy at birth Urban population share Under-15 population change to 2040 Youth dependency ratio
Cite this table

AlphaBetaMinds (2026). School starting age by country. Retrieved from https://alphabetaminds.com/data/school-starting-age-by-country

Download the full dataset (CSV)

Sources: UN World Population Prospects, World Bank Open Data, UNESCO Institute for Statistics, ITU. Figures are 2025–2026 estimates. Method on our methodology page.