South Africa: distribution of educational attainment

Between the years 2015 to 2022, the percentage rate of individuals aged 20 years and older in South Africa who have attained 12th grade has generally been increasing from 28.3 percent to 34.6 percent. Individuals without any school education at all have decreased from five percent to 3.3 percent within the given time period.

Distribution of educational attainment for individuals aged 20 and older in South Africa from 2015 to 2022

Characteristic	Other	Post-school	NSC/Grade 12	Upper Secondary	Lower Secondary	Completed Primary	Some Primary	None
2022	0.5%	15.9%	34.6%	24.2%	10.6%	3.8%	7.1%	3.3%
2021	0.6%	14.6%	35.9%	24.4%	10.2%	3.7%	7.4%	3.2%
2020	0.4%	14.1%	36%	24.9%	10.5%	3.8%	7.3%	2.9%
2019	0.5%	15.4%	30.8%	25.1%	11.8%	4.2%	8.5%	3.7%
2018	0.5%	14.3%	30.9%	25.5%	11.4%	4.3%	8.7%	4.5%
2017	0.5%	13.9%	29.2%	26%	12.3%	4.4%	9.1%	4.7%
2016	0.4%	14.1%	28.8%	25.3%	12.5%	4.6%	9.6%	4.7%
2015	0.4%	14.1%	28.3%	24.7%	12.7%	4.7%	10.2%	5%

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Release date

August 2023

More information

Region

South Africa

Survey time period

2015 to 2022

Age group

20 years and older

Supplementary notes

The source mentioned that "post-school" education refers to any qualification higher than 12th grade, "lower secondary" refers to 8th and 9th grade and "upper secondary" refers to 10th and 11th grade.

The figures have been taken from several publications.

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