All📚 Primary school starting age
Primary school starting age is the age at which students would enter primary education, assuming they had started at the official entrance age for the lowest level of education, had studied full-time throughout and had progressed through the system without repeating or skipping a grade.
Highlights
As of 2025, Afghanistan ranks first with 7 years, followed by Bulgaria (7 years) and Croatia (7 years).
The top two are virtually level: Afghanistan and Bulgaria differ by less than 1%.
Across 210 countries and territories, values run from 7 years (Afghanistan) to 5 years (United Kingdom), with a median of 6 years.
By region, the top 10 is made up of 4 from Europe, 3 from Africa, 2 from the Americas and 1 from Asia.
Source: World Bank Open Data — Primary school starting age (years), 2025. Unit: years.
Source: World Bank Open Data — Primary school starting age (years) · CC BY 4.0 · fetched Oct 16, 2026