The 2025 edition of the SDG 4 Scorecard, jointly produced by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the Global Education Monitoring Report, provides an update on countries’ progress toward their 2025 and 2030 national benchmarks, the targets that represent each country’s intended contribution to achieving SDG 4.

Download the latest Scorecard which focuses on the out-of-school rate.

Explore the updated tools supporting the benchmarking process:

• SDG 4 Scorecard Dashboard
• Benchmarks Data Gaps Dashboard
• Benchmarks Data Gaps Map

Read more in these related blogs:

• Countries are throwing their weight behind the national SDG 4 benchmarking process
• The out-of-school population is higher than previously thought – and rising

And don’t miss the new Inventory of Benchmarks in National Plans

Developed by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the GEM Report, the scorecard tracks how African countries are progressing towards their own national benchmarks - education targets grounded in local realities and priorities. The 2025 edition places a spotlight on the Out-of-School rate, showing 118 million children, adolescents and youth are currently out of school in Africa.

Covering 8 key indicators, from early childhood participation to education financing, the SDG 4 Scorecard shows where progress is being made, where it is stalling, and where data is missing. With 74% of African countries having set at least one benchmark, the Scorecard is now central to education monitoring on the continent and a powerful tool for course correction.

Download the Africa scorecard here.

Developed by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the Inventory of Benchmarks in National Plans is a compilation of 762 national education documents published between 2004 and 2025—including 330 National Education Plans, 286 Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), and 146 commitments submitted to the Transforming Education Summit (TES).

The aim of the inventory is to reflect the inclusion of quantitative and/or qualitative benchmarks in national planning and reporting processes, enabling the assessment of national priorities and progress toward achieving inclusive and equitable quality education.

The 11th GAML meeting advanced the global learning measurement agenda by discussing recent developments and pending challenges related to SDG indicator 4.1.1, with a particular emphasis on SDG 4.1.1a; Eligibility criteria for learning assessments; Standard-setting; Item difficulty; Benchmarks for precursor skills; MPL blueprint; Context questionnaires; Item library; Virtual fund and vetting mechanism; and buyers' guide. The meeting included presentations from international agencies, regional organizations, and countries.

For more information, please visit the EDSC and GAML meeting page and read the post-meeting consultation report to view the latest decisions on out-of-school rates in emergencies, TVET participation, school meals, national population, ISCED, and teachers’ qualifications.

The 56th Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission brought together global experts to discuss critical topics, including the draft System of National Accounts (SNA) 2025, the review of the 2020 round of population and housing censuses, progress on data and indicators for the 2030 Agenda, environmental-economic accounting, and food security statistics. These discussions will shape the future of global data collection and analysis, ensuring better-informed policies.

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) presented a report addressing three areas: (a) national benchmarks for education; (b) model estimates for out-of-school and completion rates; and (c) the Conference on Education Data and Statistics.

Check the documents page for more details.

The UIS Data Browser is a comprehensive platform for policymakers, researchers, and developers to access internationally comparable data on education, science, and culture.

With a user-friendly interface, the platform enables users to view and download customized datasets, explore metadata and documentation, and utilize advanced visualization tools. Users can filter indica- tors by country or region, create charts to analyze trends, and easily share insights with others.

The UIS offered training sessions on data extraction from its browser using the web Application Programming Interface (API). For more information, explore the concept note and visit the API training webpage.

The UIS has launched World Education Statistics 2024, marking the beginning of a new annual publication series. This publication highlights progress across various SDG 4 targets, including primary and secondary education, early childhood education, vocational and higher education, workforce skills, gender parity, literacy, and more. It also features tables presenting available data for all countries from 2015 to 2024.

An accompanying interactive app allows users to explore UIS data on a global map, making it easy to search and visualize all indicators.

The UIS convened a TAG of experts to refine the eligibility criteria that assessments should meet for reporting on SDG 4.1.1, with emphasis on SDG 4.1.1.a (early grades) given its downgrade from Tier I to Tier II during the IAEG/SDG meeting in October 2023.

For more information, refer to this page: TAG on SDG 4.1.1a.

The first TAG meeting (4-6 March 2024) reviewed the Criteria for Eligibility of a learning assessment to report on SDG 4.1.1, a document last updated on 9 December 2024. The second TAG meeting (14-16 May 2024) reviewed the evidence from the analysis of existing databases and discussed benchmark-setting.

The second webinar introduced a proposed buyer's guide aimed at promoting countries’ free and informed choice of learning assessments. The guide provides countries with information on options and costs to help them – as well as the assisting donors - decide what assessment they need.