EU Adult learning statistics Complementary methodological information

version 12/03/2021 LFS/AL

ANNEX A: Comparability of LFS data on participation in education and training

The LFS/AL indicator and the ELET indicator (early leavers from education and training – former 'early school leavers') both use two EU-LFS variables on participation in education and training (i.e. formal and non-formal education and training): EDUCSTAT and COURATT[1].

All the EU-LFS countries collect the variable EDUCSTAT on participation in regular (formal) education. However, the reference period for EDUCSTAT and the wording of the questions vary from one country to another. The purpose of this annex is to examine the main differences between countries regarding the way the variable EDUCSTAT is collected[2].

Variable EDUCSTAT

Reference period

· Countries only using the 4 weeks reference period: AT, BG, CY, CZ, DK, ES, FI, FR, EL, HU, HR, IE, MK, MT, IS, LT, LU, LV, NO, PT, RO, SE[3], SI, SK, TR.

· Countries combining different questions related to EDUCSTAT in order to collect the relevant information:

§ EE: the questionnaire combines three questions. In fact, question YE11 asks: “Are you currently enrolled in a secondary education institution, vocational school or higher education institution?” If the answer to YE11 is no, then J02A asks “Are you currently on holidays or on study leave after which you plan to continue your studies?” and J02B asks “Did you finish or quit studying before finishing a general education institution, vocational school or higher education institution in the past four weeks?”

§ NL: beginning of the programme (month and year) and length are asked.

· Countries using both a 4 weeks reference period and a longer reference period (12 months): BE, DE, IT, NL, PL.

· Countries using another reference period: CH (“at the moment”), UK (both 4 weeks and 3 months for job-related training, no specific reference for other education or training, i.e. “at present”).

Student on holidays: from 2006 onwards, the EU-LFS methodology has introduced a new item for EDUCSTAT. Indeed, item 3 “student but has been on holidays during the reference weeks” has been introduced to cover people (especially in quarter 3) who were on holidays during their regular (formal) education. For details on the calculation of the LFS indicator on adult participation in learning see here.

Table A1: Availability of item 3 (“student on holidays”) for variable EDUCSTAT

	2010 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS	2009 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS	2008 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS	2007 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS	2006 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS	2005 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS
BE	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
BG	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
CZ	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
DK	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	NO
DE	YES	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO
EE	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO
IE	:	YES	YES	YES	NO	NO
EL	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
ES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
FR	NO (but ask for the current school grade and the month when leaving education)	NO (but ask for the current school grade and the month when leaving education)	NO (but ask for the current school grade and the month when leaving education)	NO (but ask for the current school grade and the month when leaving education)	NO (but ask for the current school grade and the month when leaving education)	NO
HR	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
IT	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)
CY	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
LV	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
LT	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
LU	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
HU	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
MT	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
NL	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
AT	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
PL	:	YES	YES	NO (but cover the last 12 months)	NO (but cover the last 12 months)	NO (3 items, two identical Yes)
PT	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
RO	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
SI	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
SK	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
FI	NO (but registration include holidays)	NO (but registration include holidays)	NO (but registration include holidays)	NO (but registration include holidays)	NO (but registration include holidays)	NO (but registration include holidays)
SE	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES (persons on summer holidays are not considered as studying even if formally registered)
IS	:	YES	YES	:	NO	NO
NO	NO	NO	NO	:	NO	NO
CH	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
UK	:	NO (but cover the last quarter)	YES	YES	YES	NO
ME	:	:	:	:	:	:
MK	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	:
TR	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO

: Questionnaire not transmitted to Eurostat

	2016 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS	2015 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS	2014 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS	2013 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS	2012 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS	2011 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS
BE	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
BG	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
CZ	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
DK	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
DE	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO (but are included in the instructions)	NO (but are included in the instructions)
EE	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
IE	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
EL	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
ES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
FR	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO (but ask for the current school grade and the month when leaving education)	NO (but ask for the current school grade and the month when leaving education)
HR	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
IT	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)
CY	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
LV	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
LT	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
LU	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
HU	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
MT	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
NL	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
AT	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
PL	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
PT	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
RO	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
SI	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
SK	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
FI	NO (but registration include holidays)	NO (but registration include holidays)	NO (but registration include holidays)	NO (but registration include holidays)	NO (but registration include holidays)	NO (but registration include holidays)
SE	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
IS	:	YES	YES	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)	:
NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
CH	NO	:	NO	NO	NO	NO
UK	NO (but cover the last quarter)	NO (but cover the last quarter)	NO (but cover the last quarter)	NO (but cover the last quarter)	NO (but cover the last quarter)	:
ME	:	:	:	:	:	:
MK	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
TR	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES

: Questionnaire not transmitted to Eurostat

	2020 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS	2019 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS	2018 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS	2017 EDUCSTAT Include item HOLIDAYS
BE	YES	YES	YES	YES
BG	YES	YES	YES	YES
CZ	YES	YES	YES	YES
DK	YES	YES	YES	YES
DE	YES	YES	YES	YES
EE	YES	YES	YES	YES
IE	:	YES	YES	YES
EL	YES	YES	YES	YES
ES	YES	YES	YES	YES
FR	YES	YES	YES	YES
HR	YES	YES	YES	YES
IT	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)	NO (but question whether registered or not)
CY	YES	YES	YES	YES
LV	YES	YES	YES	YES
LT	YES	YES	YES	YES
LU	YES	YES	YES	YES
HU	YES	YES	YES	YES
MT	YES	YES	YES	YES
NL	YES	YES	YES	YES
AT	YES	YES	YES	YES
PL	YES	YES	YES	YES
PT	YES	YES	YES	YES
RO	YES	YES	YES	YES
SI	YES	YES	YES	YES
SK	YES	YES	YES	YES
FI	NO (but registration include holidays)	NO (but registration include holidays)	NO (but registration include holidays)	NO (but registration include holidays)
SE	YES	YES	YES	YES
IS	:	:	:	:
NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
CH	NO	NO	NO	NO
UK	NO (but cover the last quarter)	NO (but cover the last quarter)	NO (but cover the last quarter)	NO (but cover the last quarter)
ME	:	YES	YES	YES
MK	YES	YES	YES	YES
TR	:	:	YES	YES

: Questionnaire not transmitted to Eurostat

Table A2: Summary of the year of implementation of code 3 and treatment of this group before the introduction of this code

	Year of implementation of code 3 for EDUCSTAT	Inclusion of students on holidays as being in formal education before the introduction of the code
BE	2006	Yes in 2005 but only partly before
BG	2006	Yes
CZ	2006	Yes
DK	2007	Yes
DE	2008	Yes
EE	2009	No
IE	2007	No
EL	2006	No
ES	2006	Yes
FR	2013	Yes
HR	2006	Yes
IT	2006	Information not available
CY	2006	No
LV	2006	Yes
LT	2006	Yes
LU	2006	Yes
HU	2006	No
MT	2006	Yes
NL	2006	No
AT	2006	Yes
PL	2008	Yes
PT	2006	Yes
RO	2006	Yes
SI	2006	Yes
SK	2006	Yes
FI	:	Yes (data based on enrolment)
SE	2006	No
IS	2009	No
NO	2006	No
CH	:	Information not available
UK	2006	Information not available
ME	:	Information not available
MK	2007	No
TR	2006	No data before 2006

Wording

According to the EU-LFS user guide, the variable EDUCSTAT refers to “student or apprentice in regular education during the last 4 weeks”.

Table A3: Terms used by countries when considering participation in regular (formal) education, reference year 2020

	“… in regular education”	Other reference to education system	Status/enrolment
BE	Yes
BG	During the LAST 4 WEEKS did you attend a school, university or other educational institution with a view to attain the educational degree (incl. correspondence, distance learning or similar type of training)?
CZ		Formal education
DK		School or at a higher education institution
DE			Have you been a pupil, trainee or student in the last 4 weeks?
EE		Secondary education institution, vocational school or higher education institution
IE*	Have you been a student or an apprentice during the previous 4 weeks? A note explains what regular education is.
EL	Yes
ES		Official syllabus
FR	During the four weeks from… to…, did you take any studies or training leading to a recognized diploma or title?
HR	Yes
IT			In the 4 weeks from ….. to ….. were you enrolled at school or at college or at university or at academy (Music Conservatory, Academy of Fine Arts, etc) ? Include also the inscription to the education and vocational training programmes IFP,IFTS, ITS.
CY	Yes
LV			Were you pupil/learner or student during the last 4 weeks?
LT		University, vocational or general school
LU	Yes
HU	Yes
MT	Yes
NL			Are you currently doing a programme or course at a school, with a different training institute or in the company?
AT	Yes
PL		Formal education
PT			Did you attend or were you enrolled in any school year or educational level in the week from … to … or in the previous 3 weeks?
RO		National education system
SI			In the past 4 weeks, were you enrolled in any school or college?
SK	Yes
FI			In the past 4 weeks, have you studied or been registered at: 1. comprehensive school, 2. upper secondary general school (or otherwise studied for upper secondary school qualification), 3. studied for a vocational qualification (or a double qualification of upper secondary school and vocational qualification), 4. studied for a polytechnic degree, 5.or for a university degree?, 6.not studied any type of the above.
SE			During that week, were you registered as actively studying at any school?
IS*			Were you registered at school or on an apprenticeship in the last 4 weeks?
NO			Have you been going to any kind of school, studied in a university or university college, or been an apprentice?
CH		Formal education in a school
UK			Are you at present (at school or 6th form college or) enrolled on any full‑time or part‑time education course excluding leisure classes?
ME*	Yes
MK			Have you been attending some kind of school programme or school, during the last 4 weeks?
TR*		Formal education

*Note: IE, ME: 2019 questionnaire; TR: 2018 questionnaire ; IS: 2015 questionnaire

Variable COURATT

Reference period

Nearly all countries use a 4 weeks reference period. Different periods are used in:

• BE, DE, IT, NL, RO (both the last 4 weeks and the last 12 months)
• FR and UK (both the last 4 weeks and the last 3 months)
• SE (both the last week – participation in the spare time only – and the last 4 weeks)

CH: only one question for EDUCSTAT and COURATT: “Are you completing a formal education AT THE MOMENT or are you participating in further training or training courses?”

Wording

Item 1: “outside regular education system”

Most of the countries explicitly state that the question refers to any learning activities which take place outside the regular (formal) education system. Besides these countries, some others talk about “outside” the

· “formal education”: Greece, Luxembourg and Turkey

· “official syllabus”: Spain

· “regular school or higher education”: Austria

· “national education system”: Romania

It should be noted that some countries do not mention “outside…” in their questionnaire. This is the case of Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia (in training courses), Lithuania, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and North Macedonia.

Other countries use different reference:

• Germany: “Have you participated in continuing general or vocational training also in the last 4 weeks?”

· France: “We are now going to talk about training that does not lead to a recognized diploma or title. These trainings could be followed for personal or professional reasons.”

• Finland: “Besides this education leading to a qualification or degree, have you attended some course or seminar or received some other training related to your work, profession or hobbies during the past 4 weeks between dd/mm and dd/mm/yyyy?”
• The Netherlands: length of the programme or course: “In the last 4 weeks, did you do or complete a programme or course that lasted less than six months?”
• Portugal: “Did you attend any taught learning activity in the week from … to … or in the previous 3 weeks?”

Item 2: nature of non-formal education

The following table presents the different terms that are used by countries in the question on participation outside the regular education system.

Table A4: Terms used by countries when considering participation outside the regular education system, reference year 2020

	Courses	Seminars	Conferences	Private lessons or instructions	Additional terms/examples
BE	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
BG	Yes (training courses)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Lectures or some other training
CZ	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Workshop
DK	Yes	No	No	No	Any courses in connection with work or any unemployment, any activities taught by a teacher, instructor or coach in your spare time
DE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Forms of continuing training are e.g. courses, seminars, conferences, private tuition, study circles, e-learning activities. Continuing vocational training includes retraining, career advancement courses, courses preparing for new tasks in the job, advanced training (e.g. in computers, management, rhetoric ).
EE	Yes (work-related training courses)	Yes (work-related seminar)	Yes (work-related conference)	No	Training courses for unemployed persons, training courses related to hobbies, interests (extracurricular activities), other training courses
IE*	Yes	No	Yes	No	Courses or evening classes “outside regular education” For example, a conference, a language course, driving lessons, art classes, or exercise classes.
EL	Yes (group lesson program)	Yes	No	Yes	Group lesson program (in school, university, foreign language institutes, dance schools, martial arts clubs etc.), seminar or workshop in the workplace or in your leisure time, e-learning programme, private lessons (for example, mathematics, piano lessons)
ES	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	courses taught by academies, courses in the workplace, courses aimed at the unemployed, private classes, etc.
FR	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Workshops, driving course, courses linked to sport, culture or leisure
HR	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Foreign language course, extra tuition outside the regular educational programme
IT	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Job-related training courses, sewing, cooking, gardening, ceramic, music, dance, languages, computing, photography, sports, driving school, correspondence course or distance learning, etc.
CY	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (either job related or for personal purposes)	Apprenticeship programmes or afternoon and evening classes of technical schools
LV	Yes	Yes	No	No	Training, lectures, etc.
LT	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Online training, been trained at your workplace, private lessons for professional or personal purposes, practical or theoretical seminars
LU	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
HU	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Professional training with qualification, OKJ training, professional or regular training without qualification, job-related training, training for new entrants, fire and labour protection education, team building, language course, computer (application) course, IT training, courses organized by distance education, e-learning training, webinar training, driving course, performances or courses in connection with sport, music, other hobby activities, other
MT	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Training on the job related to skills, driving lessons, music, band clubs, singing, drama, dancing or sport lessons, foreign language lessons, hobbies, art courses and health courses (natal courses) or CANA Movement course
NL	Yes	No	No	No	Computer course, language course, music lesson
AT	No	No	No	No	Any vocational training courses; courses, classes or seminars mainly dedicated to leisure activities, sports and hobbies (e.g. art classes, foreign language courses, music classes, sports lessons, driving lessons, or private tuition)
PL	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Work within the scope of unpaid traineeship, apprenticeship (excluding those which are carried out within the framework of the formal education system, i.e. obligatory apprenticeships/traineeships related to school curriculum in basic and secondary vocational schools or tertiary schools are not included) or voluntary work of the traineeship or apprenticeship character, language courses, computer courses, driving course, sports activities, dance activities, musical activities, artistic activities, activities developing manual skills/handcraft, theatrical activities, courses of filming and photography, educational activities associated with organized tourism, culinary courses, courses connected with beauty/health, training regarding personal skills, training connected with social activity, including voluntary work, training regarding parental skills, prenuptial courses, training regarding religions, activities within the scope of public and personal security, third age university, people’s or general university, open university
PT	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Foreign language courses, driving school, etc.
RO	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Qualification courses (or initiation into an occupation), courses of specialisation / development, including those aimed at developing general skills, common to several occupations (foreign languages, management, computer use, etc.), personal development courses, hobby and leisure time (music, dance, time use, creative thinking), courses of driving schools; seminars or conferences, held during working hours or during your spare time; tutoring on mathematics, Romanian, English, lessons in singing, piano, drawing, etc. – with a personal instructor (teacher); practical training in the workplace
SI	Yes	Yes	No	No	Any course (including sewing, cooking, sports, etc. courses), study circle, instruction, driving exam, religious classes, etc.
SK	Yes	No	Yes	No	Tutoring or other form of education in addition to vocational training. The question mentions a minimum of at least one hour.
FI	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Some other training related to your work, profession or hobbies [e.g. hobby courses, staff training, continuing education, labour market training not leading to a qualification, trade union courses, public lectures, driving school]
SE	Yes	No	No	No	Any course or other activity led by a teacher or instructor, e.g. a training session, study circle, seminar or driving lesson
IS*	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Lecture, other taught activities
NO	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Similar events
CH	Yes	No	No	No	Further training
UK	Yes	No	No	No	Tuition, taught classes
ME*	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
MK	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Course (sewing, cooking, sport…), trainings, driving license test, religion classes, etc.
TR*	Yes	Yes	No	No	Foreign language, computer, cutting/sewing, courses related to preparation of higher education, civil servant exam, open university, driving courses, university preparation courses and so on.)

*Note: IE, ME: 2019 questionnaire; TR: 2018 questionnaire ; IS: 2015 questionnaire

ANNEX B: Exceptions for the calculation of the LFS/AL series

For the calculation of the main indicators on adult participation in learning, some “corrections” are done:

· Removing missing/outlier quarters:

o IT, NL: 2000 Q1 (Q2-Q4 are multiplied by 4/3)

o AT: 2000 Q2-Q4, 2001 Q2-Q4, 2002 Q2-Q4 (Q1 is multiplied by 4)

o DK, FI, EL: 2003 Q2 (Q1,Q3-Q4 are multiplied by 4/3)

o UK: 2003 Q1-Q2 (Q3-Q4 are multiplied by 2), 2004 Q2 (Q1,Q3-Q4 are multiplied by 4/3)

o SE: 2005 Q1 (Q2-Q4 are multiplied by 4/3)

· Correction of outliers:

o HU, 2003 Q2:

IF COUNTRY="HU" and YEAR="2003" and QUAR_TMP="Q2" and SEX="2" then do; IF EDUC4WN="0" then COEFF=1.00716073624269*COEFF; IF EDUC4WN="1" then COEFF=0.915028924827767*COEFF; IF EDUC4WN=" " then COEFF=COEFF; end;

IF COUNTRY="HU" and YEAR="2003" and QUAR_TMP="Q2" and SEX="1" then do; IF EDUC4WN="0" then COEFF=1.00312120235113*COEFF; IF EDUC4WN="1" then COEFF=0.933500845815658*COEFF; IF EDUC4WN=" " then COEFF=COEFF; end;

o IE, 2003 Q2:

IF COUNTRY="IE" and YEAR="2003" and QUAR_TMP="Q2" and SEX="2" then do; IF EDUC4WN="0" then COEFF=1.04019995414529*COEFF; IF EDUC4WN="1" then COEFF=0.668176708534733*COEFF; IF EDUC4WN=" " then COEFF=0.717183801320147*COEFF; end;

IF COUNTRY="IE" and YEAR="2003" and QUAR_TMP="Q2" and SEX="1" then do; IF EDUC4WN="0" then COEFF=1.02575264166786*COEFF; IF EDUC4WN="1" then COEFF=0.721345823112627*COEFF; IF EDUC4WN=" " then COEFF=0.45633734661717*COEFF; end;

· Imputation of missing results/outliers for EU aggregates (only used for the calculation of the aggregate, the national data are not published):

o SI, 1999-2000: data from 2001

o IE, 1999-2001: data from 2002

o BG, 2000: data from 2001

o PL, 2000: data from 2001

o CZ, 2000-2001: data from 2002

o LV, 2000-2001: data from 2002

o SK, 2000-2001: data from 2002

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[1] CH have no distinction between EDUCSTAT and COURATT in the national questionnaire.

[2] This analysis is based on the national LFS questionnaire of reference year 2020.

[3] The reference period was 1 week only in 2005 and 2006 LFS rounds.