Educational attainment
1. Contact
Responsible agency
Unit
Contact person
Position
Email (agency)
Phone
2. Statistical presentation
Data description
Information on the highest level of education acquired by usually residents of Latvia who are at least 15 years old.
Education level is aligned with the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 2011). The compliance of the current classification of the education system of the Republic of Latvia with the ISCED classification is prescribed by the Cabinet Regulation No 322 Regulation on the Classification of Education in Latvia of 13 June 2017.
The statistics for the highest level of education completed is published in accordance with the nine levels of ISCED 2011:
- No formal education or less than primary education (ISCED 0);
- Primary education (ISCED 1);
- Lower secondary education (basic education) (ISCED 2);
- Upper secondary education (ISCED 3);
- Post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED 4);
- Short-cycle tertiary education (college) (ISCED 5);
- Bachelor’s or equivalent level (ISCED 6);
- Master’s or equivalent level (ISCED 7);
- Doctoral or equivalent level (ISCED 8).
The acquired education is published also in breakdown by five educational groupings:
- No formal education or education is lower than basic education (lower secondary education) (ISCED 0 and 1);
- Lower secondary education (basic education) (ISCED 2);
- Upper secondary education (ISCED 3);
- Post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED 4);
- Tertiary education (ISCED 5–8).
Statistical concepts and definitions
Statistical unit
- Usual residents of Latvia aged 15 and older.
Statistical population
The statistical population covers all inhabitants of Latvia aged 15 and older in line with the definition:
Only persons who have lived in Latvia for a continuous period of at least 12 months before 1 January of the respective year as well as persons who have arrived in Latvia with the intention to spend at least one year are considered to be usually residents.
3. Institutional mandate
Legal acts and other agreements
- Regulation (EC) No 763/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 on population and housing censuses;
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/543 of 22 March 2017 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 763/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on population and housing censuses as regards the technical specifications of the topics and of their breakdowns;
- Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on European demographic statistics.
4. Accessibility and clarity
On-line database
- Section: Level of education qualification.
5. Comparability
Comparability - geographical
Indicators characterising educational attainment of population in the EU
Results of the Population and Housing Census that are territorially comparable between EU countries are published in the Eurostat database.
Length of comparable time series
Data on the highest level of education completed may not be comparable due to the changes in classification.
6. Coherence
Coherence- cross domain
- Population and Housing Census;
- Labour Force Survey;
- European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions survey;
- Adult Education Survey;
- European Health Interview Survey.
The CSB is presenting results of the individual and household surveys conducted based on the international standard classification of education and national classification of education pursuant to the Cabinet Regulation No 322.
The question about the highest level of education successfully completed in individual and household surveys is asked in the same way and the same answer options are used.
7. Statistical processing
Source data
Administrative and other data sources the data whereof are stored in the cumulative education database and used to produce education statistics are:
- Population and Housing Census 2011;
- Database of the Ministry of Finance on employees of institutions under the jurisdiction of state (until 2018);
- State Chancellery database on employees of institutions under the jurisdiction of state (starting from 2019);
- Higher education students and graduates in breakdown by year – from 2012 to 2017 data received from higher education institutions, starting from 2018 data of the Ministry of Education and Science (IZM) State Education Information System (VIIS);
- IZM data on teacher education in breakdown by years (starting from 2018);
- IZM data on the education of the academic staff (starting from 2018);
- IZM data on certified au pairs (starting from 2018);
- Labour Force Survey conducted by the CSB;
- EU-SILC survey conducted by the CSB;
- Data of the Study and Research Administration (2011–2019);
- Data of the State Education Development Agency (starting from 2020);
- Data of the Academic Information Centre (2012–2019);
- Survey on ICT usage in Households conducted by the CSB;
- Data of the Latvian Council of Sworn Advocates on advocates and their assistants (starting from 2018);
- Data of the Latvian Council of Sworn Notaries on notaries and their assistants (starting from 2018);
- Data of the Latvian Council of Sworn Bailiffs on bailiffs and their assistants (starting from 2018);
- IZM VIIS data on students who have completed primary school, basic or vocational programmes (vocational education institutions provide data starting from 1 September 2015, VIIS was introduced on 1 September 2010, general school provide data starting from 2012);
- Data of the Latvian Academy of Sciences on Doctors of Science (until 2016);
- Data of the Health Inspectorate (starting from 2016);
- Data of the State Employment Agency (starting from 2015);
- Data of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs on the education acquired by persons who have received a residence permit (starting from 2019);
- Data of the Pharmacists' Society of Latvia (starting from 2019);
- Population Microcensus conducted by the CSB (2015);
- External Migration Survey conducted by the CSB (2018);
- Adult Education Survey conducted by the CSB (2015);
- Data on certified guides (starting from 2019);
- Data of the State Construction Control Bureau (BIS) (starting from 2020);
- Data of the Ministry of Agriculture on veterinarians (starting from 2020);
- Data on the clergy of the Roman Catholic Curia of the Riga Metropolis (starting from 2019);
- Data of the Latvian Maritime Administration on holders of seafarers' qualification certificate (starting from 2017);
- Agricultural Census conducted by CSB (2020).
Data collection
Register-based population and Housing Census is a full-scope survey. Education statistics covers usually residents of Latvia who are at least 15 years old.
Data compilation
The highest level of education obtained is determined for each usually resident of Latvia at the beginning of the year (1 January of the respective year). The highest level of education completed is drawn from the cumulative database which is based on the results of the Population and Housing Census 2011 and then education data from registers and CSB surveys conducted in the coming years are added. Before adding the education level to the cumulative database it is aligned to the International Standard Classification of Education ISCED-(2011). The quality of the administrative and other data used is being assessed.
When all indicators are prepared, the quality of data, correspondence of the level acquired to the person's age and certain professions is evaluated.
It is assumed that each level of education has a minimum age at which it can be obtained:
Level of education | Minimum age | |
Primary education (first stage of basic education) (ISCED 1) | 12 years | |
Lower secondary education (Second stage of basic education or basic education) (ISCED 2) | 14 years |
|
Upper secondary education (ISCED 3) | 17 years | |
Post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED 4) | 18 years | |
Short-cycle tertiary education (college) (ISCED 5) | 19 years | |
Bachelor’s or equivalent level (ISCED 6) | 20 years | |
Master’s or equivalent level (ISCED 7) | 21 years | |
Doctoral or equivalent level (ISCED 8) | 25 years |