Of the 25 countries with the highest average number of weeks of primary school instruction, there are eight – New Zealand, Greece, Brazil, Switzerland, Finland, Iceland, Denmark and Germany – that are also in the top 25 for students progressing to secondary level, all of which have progression rates in excess of 99 percent. Of these, Finland, New Zealand, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany are in the top 18 for the percentage of adults educated until the tertiary level.

The top four countries for percentage of adults with tertiary education – Canada, United States, Ireland and Japan – are not in the top 25 for hours of primary instruction. Japan is the only of the four in the top 25 for progression to secondary level.