India: Progression to secondary school (%)

Key figures

Since 1986 it is up 4.42 percentage points from 86.84% in 1986. The World Bank has no value for 20 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 2.99 percentage points in 1987 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.45 percentage points in 2002. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2017, India had the 41st highest value of the 52 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to India in the 2017 ranking

• Timor-Leste — 37th of 52: 93.21%
• Dominican Republic — 38th of 52: 93.16%
• Costa Rica — 39th of 52: 91.71%
• Morocco — 41st of 52: 90.52%
• Guatemala — 42nd of 52: 90.17%
• Cambodia — 43rd of 52: 89.85%

What this measures

Progression to secondary school refers to the number of new entrants to the first grade of secondary school in a given year as a percentage of the number of students enrolled in the final grade of primary school in the previous year (minus the number of repeaters from the last grade of primary education in the given year).

Limitations: The quality of data on the transition rate is affected when new entrants and repeaters are not correctly distinguished. Students who interrupt their studies after completing primary education could also affect data quality.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 12 values

Progression to secondary school (%) in nearby economies

• Bhutan — 99.58% (2016)
• Nepal — 82.38% (2016)
• Sri Lanka — 99.43% (2017)

More education data for India

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 5 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 11 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 7 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 126.12 million (2025)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 111.03% (2025)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 110.61% (2025)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 111.42% (2025)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1.02 (2021)
• Secondary education, pupils — 133.16 million (2025)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

What is India's progression to secondary school (%)?

91.26% in 2017, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1986?

It is up 4.42 percentage points from 86.84% in 1986. The highest value was 93.11% in 2001 and the lowest 86.84% in 1986.

How does India rank?

41st highest of 52 economies with data for 2017.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://uis.unesco.org/bdds, publisher: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.SEC.PROG.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://uis.unesco.org/bdds, publisher: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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