Secondary School Starting Age (years) By Country

This page has a list of countries by Lower secondary school starting age (years), according to officially-recognized international sources compiled by the World Bank. Lower secondary school starting age is the age at which students would enter lower secondary education, assuming they had started at the official entrance age for the lowest level of education, had studied full-time throughout and had progressed through the system without repeating or skipping a grade.

Aruba
12 years

Afghanistan
13 years

Angola
12 years

Albania
11 years

Andorra
12 years

United Arab Emirates
10 years

Argentina
12 years

Armenia
10 years

American Samoa
12 years

Antigua and Barbuda
12 years

Australia
12 years

Austria
10 years

Azerbaijan
10 years

Burundi
13 years

Belgium
12 years

Benin
12 years

Burkina Faso
12 years

Bangladesh
11 years

Bulgaria
11 years

Bahrain
12 years

Bahamas
11 years

Bosnia and Herzegovina
11 years

Belarus
10 years

Belize
11 years

Bermuda
11 years

Bolivia
12 years

Brazil
11 years

Barbados
11 years

Brunei
12 years

Bhutan
12 years

Botswana
13 years

Central African Republic
12 years

Canada
12 years

Switzerland
12 years

Chile
12 years

China
12 years

Ivory Coast
12 years

Cameroon
12 years

Congo
12 years

Republic Of The Congo
12 years

Colombia
11 years

Comoros
12 years

Cape Verde
12 years

Costa Rica
12 years

Cuba
12 years

Curacao
12 years

Cayman Islands
11 years

Cyprus
12 years

Czech Republic
11 years

Germany
10 years

Djibouti
11 years

Dominica
12 years

Denmark
13 years

Dominican Republic
12 years

Algeria
11 years

Ecuador
12 years

Egypt
12 years

Eritrea
11 years

Spain
12 years

Estonia
13 years

Ethiopia
13 years

Finland
13 years

Fiji
12 years

France
11 years

Micronesia
12 years

Gabon
11 years

United Kingdom
11 years

Georgia
12 years

Ghana
12 years

Gibraltar
11 years

Guinea
13 years

Gambia
13 years

Guinea Bissau
12 years

Equatorial Guinea
13 years

Greece
12 years

Grenada
12 years

Guatemala
13 years

Guyana
12 years

Hong Kong
12 years

Honduras
12 years

Croatia
11 years

Haiti
12 years

Hungary
11 years

Indonesia
13 years

India
11 years

Ireland
13 years

Iran
12 years

Iraq
12 years

Iceland
13 years

Israel
12 years

Italy
11 years

Jamaica
12 years

Jordan
12 years

Japan
12 years

Kazakhstan
10 years

Kenya
12 years

Kyrgyzstan
11 years

Cambodia
12 years

Kiribati
12 years

South Korea
12 years

Kuwait
11 years

Laos
11 years

Lebanon
12 years

Liberia
12 years

Libya
12 years

St Lucia
12 years

Liechtenstein
12 years

Sri Lanka
10 years

Lesotho
13 years

Lithuania
11 years

Luxembourg
12 years

Latvia
13 years

Macau
12 years

Morocco
12 years

Monaco
11 years

Moldova
11 years

Madagascar
11 years

Maldives
13 years

Mexico
12 years

Marshall Islands
12 years

Macedonia
11 years

Mali
13 years

Malta
11 years

Myanmar
10 years

Montenegro
11 years

Mongolia
11 years

Mozambique
13 years

Mauritania
12 years

Mauritius
11 years

Malawi
12 years

Malaysia
12 years

Namibia
14 years

New Caledonia
11 years

Niger
13 years

Nigeria
12 years

Nicaragua
12 years

Netherlands
12 years

Norway
13 years

Nepal
10 years

New Zealand
11 years

Oman
10 years

Pakistan
10 years

Panama
12 years

Peru
12 years

Philippines
12 years

Palau
12 years

Papua New Guinea
13 years

Poland
11 years

Puerto Rico
12 years

North Korea
12 years

Portugal
12 years

Paraguay
12 years

Palestine
10 years

French Polynesia
11 years

Qatar
12 years

Romania
11 years

Russia
11 years

Rwanda
12 years

Saudi Arabia
12 years

Sudan
12 years

Senegal
12 years

Singapore
12 years

Solomon Islands
12 years

Sierra Leone
12 years

El Salvador
13 years

San Marino
11 years

Somalia
12 years

Serbia
11 years

South Sudan
12 years

Sao Tome and Principe
12 years

Suriname
12 years

Slovakia
10 years

Slovenia
12 years

Sweden
13 years

Swaziland
13 years

Saint Maarten
12 years

Seychelles
12 years

Syria
12 years

Chad
12 years

Togo
12 years

Thailand
12 years

Tajikistan
11 years

Turkmenistan
10 years

East Timor
12 years

Tonga
12 years

Trinidad and Tobago
12 years

Tunisia
12 years

Turkey
10 years

Tuvalu
12 years

Tanzania
14 years

Uganda
13 years

Ukraine
10 years

Uruguay
12 years

United States
12 years

Uzbekistan
11 years

St Vincent and the Grenadines
12 years

Venezuela
12 years

British Virgin Islands
12 years

Virgin Islands
12 years

Vietnam
11 years

Vanuatu
12 years

Samoa
11 years

Yemen
12 years

South Africa
14 years

Zambia
14 years

Zimbabwe
13 years