School leaving age

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World map to show school leaving age School leaving age 18 School leaving age 17 School leaving age 16 School leaving age 15 School leaving age 14 School leaving age 13 School leaving age 12 School leaving age 11 School leaving age 10 No data available

The school leaving age states the minimum age which a person is legally allowed to leave compulsory education. The majority of countries have their school leaving age set the same as their minimum employment age, thus allowing smooth transition from education into employment, whilst a few have it set just below the age at which a person is allowed to be employed.

In contrast, there are numerous countries which have several years between their school leaving age and their legal minimum employment age, thus in some cases preventing any such transition for several years. Countries which have their employment age set below the school leaving age (mostly 3rd world countries), risk giving children the opportunity to leave their education early to earn money for their families.

The table below states the school leaving ages in countries across the world and their respective minimum employment age, showing a comparion of how many countries have synchronised these ages.^[1] The largest commonly known gap between school leaving and employment age is 4 years, although the majority of countries have either synchronised these ages or have a difference of 1 year, with the exception being the minority.

[edit] Leaving age by country

Some countries have different leaving or employment ages, dependent upon part-time or full-time learning or employment.

Legend

Color legend	Ages legend
Both ages synchronised	ni denotes no information available
School leaving age higher	nc denotes education is not compulsory
Employment age higher	nm denotes no minimum employment age
No information / No age set	? denotes the age set is unknown

[edit] Africa

#	Country	De jure		Education/ Employment gap	Notes
#	Country	School leaving age	Employment age	Education/ Employment gap	Notes
	Algeria	16		0
	Benin	?	14
	Burkina Faso	16	nm
	Burundi	12	16	4
	Cameroon	nc	14
	Cape Verde	16	14	-2
	Chad	15	nm
	Comoros	14	nm
	Egypt	14		0
	Eritrea	nc	14
	Ethiopia	nc	14
	Gabon	16		0
	Ghana	15	nm
	Guinea	16		0
	Kenya	nc	nm
	Libya	15		0
	Morocco	13	15	2
	Niger	16	14	-2
	Rwanda	12	nm
	Seychelles	15		0
	Sierra Leone	15	nm
	South Africa	15	nm
	Sudan	nc	16
	Tanzania	13	nm
	Togo	15	14	-1
	Tunisia	16		0
	Zambia	nc	14

[edit] Asia

#	Country	De jure		Education/ Employment gap	Notes
#	Country	School leaving age	Employment age	Education/ Employment gap	Notes
	Bangladesh	10	nm
	Bahrain	nc	15
	Brunei	nc	14
	China	15	16	1	Compulsory education lasts 9 years. School leaving age is calculated under the assumption that pupils will enroll in school at age 6 or graduate high school at age 18.
	India	14	nm
	Iran	16	15	-1
	Iraq	?	15
	Israel	18	14	-4	The age of employment has been lowered and the school leaving age has raised.
	Japan	15		0
	Jordan	17	16	-1
	South Korea	15		0
	Kuwait	14		0
	Maldives	nc	16
	Pakistan	10	14	4	Although the minimum age for leaving school is 10 years or primary in Pakistan which mean a 7 year education, but the minimum age of employement is considered to be 14.The 14 years old can only do light work and not the hazardous employments
	Philippines	18	17	-1
	Saudi Arabia	18		0	In Saudi Arabia a student may leave school when permission of his legal custodians (parents) is given, if not the student must complete school until the age of 18. The employment age in a part time job during school holidays is 14.
	Singapore	11	?		Although Singapore currently does not practise compulsory education, primary education was made compulsory for 6 years with effect from January 2003, and education is almost universal for primary and secondary levels.
	Sri Lanka	14	10	-4
	Syria	12		0
	Republic of China	15		0
	United Arab Emirates	11	15	4
	Vietnam	10	?		Every child should receive an education up to the age of 14 years, although education is only compulsory up to the age of 10 years.

[edit] Europe

#	Country	De jure		Education/ Employment gap	Notes
#	Country	School leaving age	Employment age	Education/ Employment gap	Notes
	Andorra	16		0
	Austria	15		0
	Belarus	?	14
	Belgium	18		0	Full-time education is compulsory from the age of 3 to 15. From the person's 16th to their 18th birthday, they are obliged to pursue at least part-time education, thus having a choice between full-time or part-time education.
	Bulgaria	15		0
	Cyprus	15		0
	Czech Republic	15		0
	Denmark	16	15	-1
	Estonia	15	18	3
	Finland	16	14	-2
	France	16		0	The statutory minimum school leaving age in France is 16. There are however a few specific cases where young people may enter employment before the age of 16, such as employment in the parents’ company, sporadic work or young people who have left school early taking up an apprenticeship at 15, to name a few.^[2]
	Germany	16		0
	Greece	16		0
	Hungary	16		0
	Iceland	15		0
	Ireland	16	15	-1	16 is the minimum school leaving age, though students must complete three years of basic secondary education (ie. the Junior Certificate) regardless of age. Young people can be employed in a part time job during school holidays at age 14, part time year-round at age 15, and be employed full time at age 18. Persons under the age of 18 are subject to restrictions on their work. People under 16 must have written parental approval before they take a job.
	Italy	18	15	-3
	Latvia	15		0
	Liechtenstein	15		0
	Luxembourg	15		0
	Republic of Macedonia	18	15	-3	Compulsory secondary education starts year 2008 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 49 from 18.04.2007)
	Malta	16		0	Although the compulsory education ends at 16, an increasing number of children opt to further their studies while taking up part-time employment.
	Monaco	16		0
	Netherlands	16		0	Children may leave full-time education on the year they turn 16, but are still obliged to attend part-time education for 1 year thereafter.
	Netherlands Antilles	15	12	-3
	Norway	16	15	-1
	Poland	18	15	-3
	Portugal	15		0
	Romania	16		0
	Russia	15		0
	San Marino	16		0
	Slovakia	16	14	-2
	Slovenia	15		0
	Spain	16		0
	Sweden	16		0
	Switzerland	15		0
	Turkey	14	12	-2
	Ukraine	17	16	-1
	United Kingdom	16	14	-2	In 2013, the school leaving age is expected be raised to 18 in England.

[edit] North America and Caribbean

#	Country	De jure		Education/ Employment gap	Notes
#	Country	School leaving age	Employment age	Education/ Employment gap	Notes
	Barbados	16		0
	Belize	14	12	-2
	Canada	16	14	-2	(18 in Ontario and New Brunswick)
	Dominica	16	12	-4
	Dominican Republic	15		0
	Grenada	14		0
	Haiti	ni	15
	Honduras	13	14	1
	Jamaica	16	18	2
	Mexico	15	nm
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	16		0
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	nc	14
	Trinidad and Tobago	12		0
	United States	17	14	-3	The school leaving age varies from state to state with most having a leaving age of 17 or 18. Students who complete a certain level of secondary education ("high school") can take a standardized test and be graduated from compulsory education.
	Venezuela	14		0

[edit] Oceania

#	Country	De jure		Education/ Employment gap	Notes
#	Country	School leaving age	Employment age	Education/ Employment gap	Notes
	Australia	17	15	-2	School leaving age varies from state to state with 15 and 17^{[citation needed]} being the most popular. In some states students can leave before the specified age if they are in TAFE or a fulltime job.
	Fiji	nc	12
	Marshall Islands	14	nm
	Federated States of Micronesia	14	nm
	New Zealand	16	nm		15 year olds can leave school with permission from the education department
	Palau	17	nm
	Solomon Islands	nc	12

[edit] South America

#	Country	De jure		Education/ Employment gap	Notes
#	Country	School leaving age	Employment age	Education/ Employment gap	Notes
	Argentina	15	14	-1
	Brazil	17	22	5
	Chile	16	17	1
	Colombia	15	14	-1
	Paraguay	15	nm		Since the initiation of the Education Reform in 1993, basic education is for a period of nine years, to the age of 15 years. According to the Constitution, compulsory education ends at age 12.
	Peru	16	12	-4	Employers are obliged to report regularly on the performance and attendance of students who they employ, to help ensuring their education doesn't suffer because of their employment.
	Suriname	nc	14