United Kingdom Ranks 2nd in Europe in Global Education

In the most recent education league table ranking from Pearson, an education and publishing firm, the United Kingdom ranks 2nd among the countries in Europe in global education. It ranks 6th overall. On top of the table is South Korea, followed by Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. Among the top 20, the United States ranked 14th.

This is still a very big boost to the British education system because the ranking included international school tests and higher education, according to the Pearson report. Pearson PLC is the world’s largest book publisher and education company in the world. The British multinational company is based in London.

Strong performance

This latest ranking was compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit for Pearson. The international comparisons show the current success of the education systems in Asia. The top four in the ladder are all Asian countries. Finland, which previously was always on top of the ladder has gone down to 5th place. Still, this ranking shows a strong performance for the UK, which is just below Finland and still ahead of the Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, Denmark and Germany. Aside from Finland, other Scandinavian countries were also shown experiencing a downward trend. Poland on the other hand, is recording a rise in the ladder, after reforming its education system. Poland currently occupies the 10th place.

Components of the rankings

The rankings were based on the combination of education data and international tests that include the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), both of which are U.S.-based studies and the Pisa tests of the OECD. Also included in this is the graduation rates in higher education, which boosted the UK’s position, compared to the Pisa tests wherein the UK failed to make it to the top 20 of the preliminary list.

Economic importance of education

When the new league table ranking was released, John Fallon, Chief Executive of Pearson highlighted the importance of improving skills and education to the economy. In the same vein, Vince Cable, UK’s Business Secretary said that the UK attracts overseas students that make a big cultural and economic impact to the country because of Britain’s reputation for excellence in higher education. Thus, the country must maintain its reputation as a knowledge economy by attracting more international students.

Important findings

A report from Learning Curve that accompanied the released ranking stated that the success of the top-performing countries in Asia was a reflection of a culture were the schools and the teachers are highly respected and where the students, parents and teachers all took their responsibility for the education of the student populace. However, there is still a big question on the long-term value of learning by rote, as exemplified by South Korean students that are usually made to memorize 60 to 100 pages of facts. They did gain the strongest test results, though.

The Learning Curve report also made note of the fact that problem solving and being creative were difficult to measure and quantify and add to rankings such as this.

As Mr. Fallon pointed out, like healthcare, which benefitted from globalization, education systems can also learn from each other but on a limited scale since the education system will always have a strong local and national identity because it is shaped by language, culture and the community.