Statistics and analysis

In the 2022/2023 academic year, approximately 158,000 students in total are starting full-time study in general education schools, which is about 1500 more than in the previous academic year. This means that the upward trend in the number of students is still continuing, and the number of students in full-time education is expected to continue growing for at least the next couple of years. However, the increase is due to the number of students growing in upper secondary school while the number of students in basic school is decreasing.

About 14,000 students start 1st grade this year. About 87,000 students are going into the 1st-6th grades in basic school. About 46,000 students are going into the 7th-9th grades in basic school. About 25,000 students are going into the 10th-12th grades in the upper secondary school.

The number of students in full-time study in the 1st, 10th and 12th grades (source: EHIS)

Predicted number of students (source EHIS)

The total number of students in vocational education is just over 25,800. In recent years, the average age of students in vocational education has risen significantly, as more students over the age of 25 wish to pursue a profession or specialty and become more competitive in the labour market. However, in the academic year 2021/2022, this growth stopped and the proportions by age group remained roughly the same as in the previous year. Although adult learners generally have completed some previous education (secondary or higher), many of them are also enrolled in programmes that do not require secondary education.

Number of vocational students by type of study (source: EHIS)

In the academic year 2021/2022, the recent years' decline in the number of students enrolled in first level higher education continued, which has also led to a decrease in the total number of students. The decline is mainly due to the fact that young people are increasingly deciding to postpone their further education after secondary education or they are deciding not to enrol in Estonian higher educational institutions at all.

The number of foreign students coming to Estonia has been held back by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the admission of foreign students increased by almost a fifth in the 2021/2022 academic year. Admissions increased in Master's and PhD studies, while the number of students enrolled in first level higher education decreased. Foreign students represented 11.4% of all students in Estonian higher education institutions in the 2021/2022 academic year. There were more foreign students in PhD studies than the previous year, accounting for a third of all PhD students (32.2%).

As with other levels of education, the final admission figures for the new academic year will be available in mid-November, once all students have matriculated and the data have been entered into the Estonian Education Information System.

Number of students in higher education by field of study (source: EHIS)

Number of foreign students in higher education by field of study (source: EHIS)

Number of admissions to higher education by study level during the academic year (source: EHIS)

Adult participation in continuing education has been above 15% since 2016. In 2019, the participation rate reached as high as 20%, but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was significant, bringing the figure down to 17% in 2020. In 2021, both educators and learners were better adapted to the new situation, and participation in continuing education started to increase again. In 2021,18.4% of adults aged 25-64 participated in continuing education .

In general education, the number of students in distance learning was 5215 in the academic year 2021/2022.

The proportion of adult learners (aged 25 and over) starting vocational education had been increasing since the 2012/2013 academic year, reaching 42% in 2020/2021, but fell by one percentage point in the previous academic year.

The number of adults aged 30 and over in higher education has started to rise in recent years, accounting for just over 30% of the total student body in 2020/2021.

Adult learners in formal education (source: EHIS)

* 20% of students in distance learning are 17 years old or younger.

Percentage of 25-64-year-olds (%) who participated in degree study or training during the last 4 weeks (source: Eurostat)

The number of teachers continues to be significantly higher than the number of posts, indicating that a significant proportion of teachers work part-time.

The number of teachers and the number of teaching posts in the academic year 2021/22  (source: EHIS)

Both the minimum and the average gross monthly salary for teachers in municipal schools have more than doubled since 2011. Both the minimum and the average gross monthly salary of teachers in municipal schools has increased by more than a third over the last six years (2016 vs 2021).

The average gross monthly salary and the minimum wage of teachers compared to the average salary in Estonia (source: Balance of payments, EHIS)

Number of teaching posts – this is the number of full-time equivalent posts.

The ratio of teaching posts to students is very low – in recent years it has been around 12 students per teaching post. The ratio was 19 pupils per teaching post 20 years ago. In the 2020/2021 academic year, the student-teacher ratio fell to the level of the 2012/2013 academic year, when the student-teacher ratio was at its lowest level as shown in the table below, only 11.9 students per teaching post.

In 2020/2021, both the number of teachers and the number of teaching posts increased compared to a year earlier. Variations in the number of teachers and the number of teaching posts have had virtually no impact on the average workload, as teachers have been working at an average workload of 0.82-0.84 for the last 12 years.

This shows that many teachers in schools for general education work part-time. The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)  (focusing on teachers in 7th-9th grades) shows that many part-time teachers would like to work full-time. The organisation of work in a school depends on the head teacher's personnel policy and the school network policy of the school authorities.

Change in the number of teachers and students in schools for general education. For changes in the number of students, see the general education section (source: EHIS)

Breakdown of teachers in schools for general education by workload from the academic year 2015/2016 to 2021/2022 (source: EHIS)

There were 597 kindergartens and 3809 kindergarten groups in Estonia in the academic year 2021/2022. The vast majority (90%) of kindergartens are under municipal ownership and 10% are private kindergartens. Compared to the previous year, the number of children and groups has increased, but the number of kindergartens has decreased. 91.2% of children from two years old to school age participated in pre-primary education in 2021. Participation in pre-primary education has remained constant in recent years.

• There were 517 schools for general education in the academic year of 2021/22, four schools fewer than in the previous academic year and 31 fewer than ten years ago.
• 48 basic schools with 1st-6th grades.
• 301 basic schools with 1st-9th grades.
• 158 secondary schools with basic school level or upper secondary schools/gymnasiums (i.e. 1st-12th grades and 10th-12th grades).
• 10 adult gymnasiums.

Compared to the previous year, the number of schools decreased, mainly due to the merging of schools.

The size of schools for general education varies widely. There are 22 schools with more than 1000 students, and 93 schools for general education with fewer than 50 students, of which 18 are schools for children with special educational needs. In the academic year of 2021/2022, there were 61 small upper secondary schools (10th-12th grades) with fewer than 100 students, of which 15 are private schools, 3 state-maintained schools and the rest are municipal schools. There were 15 schools with a very small upper secondary level, i.e. up to 30 pupils. There were 47 basic schools and nursery-basic schools with fewer than 30 pupils, 7 of which are schools for children with special educational needs. One school had no students.

In the academic year 2021/2022, students could study vocational education at the qualification level in 32 vocational education institutions and in 5 state-owned institutions of vocational higher education.

Among the 32 vocational schools were:

• 26 state-owned vocational education and training institutions;
• 4 private vocational education and training institutions;
• 2 municipal vocational education and training institutions.

In the 2020/2021 academic year, higher education was available in a total of 18 institutions, including: 6 public universities;

• 1 private university;
• 7 public and 4 private institutions of vocational higher education.

The number of hobby schools has increased significantly over the years and has continued to grow in recent years. The statistics shown in the table for the academic year only include those hobby schools that have confirmed their data for the academic year in EHIS in due time.

Hobby schools and open youth centres by years (source: EHIS, HARNO)