United Kingdom

=== Education ===
{{Main|Education in the United Kingdom|Universities in the United Kingdom}}
{{Further|Education in England|Education in Scotland|Education in Wales|Education in Northern Ireland}}
[[File:Oxford - Radcliffe Square - University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Brasenose College, Radcliffe Camera 1737-48 by James Gibbs, Bodleian Library & All Souls College 04.jpg|thumb|[[University of Oxford]] is widely regarded as one of the world's leading universities.]]
Education in the United Kingdom is a [[Devolution|devolved]] matter, with each country having a separate education system. About 38 per cent of the United Kingdom population has a university or [[college degree]], which is the highest percentage in Europe, and among the highest percentages in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 September 2012 |title=The Most Educated Countries in the World |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-most-educated-countries-in-the-world.html;_ylt=AlaWy8IcyeBaviKi7_.WJyhE6odG;_ylu=X3oDMTJrY2d2NGZyBG1pdANDeFMgRmluYW5jaWFsbHkgRml0IEFydGljbGUgQXJ0aWNsZSBCb2R5IFByb2QEcG9zAzMEc2VjA01lZGlhQXJ0aWNsZUJvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNjdGVoaXJqBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDY2IyOTRhMGEtYmY2OS0zYTdlLThlYTUtZWFlNTU3YWI1ZTc3BHBzdGNhdANleGNsdXNpdmVzfGZpbmFuY2lhbGx5Zml0BHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=3?page=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204213400/http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-most-educated-countries-in-the-world.html%3B_ylt%3DAlaWy8IcyeBaviKi7_.WJyhE6odG%3B_ylu%3DX3oDMTJrY2d2NGZyBG1pdANDeFMgRmluYW5jaWFsbHkgRml0IEFydGljbGUgQXJ0aWNsZSBCb2R5IFByb2QEcG9zAzMEc2VjA01lZGlhQXJ0aWNsZUJvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--%3B_ylg%3DX3oDMTNjdGVoaXJqBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDY2IyOTRhMGEtYmY2OS0zYTdlLThlYTUtZWFlNTU3YWI1ZTc3BHBzdGNhdANleGNsdXNpdmVzfGZpbmFuY2lhbGx5Zml0BHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--%3B_ylv%3D3?page=1 |archive-date=4 February 2016 |access-date=20 April 2016 |website=Yahoo Finance}}; {{Cite magazine |date=27 September 2012 |title=And the World's Most Educated Country Is… |url=http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/09/27/and-the-worlds-most-educated-country-is |magazine=Time |location=New York |access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref> The United Kingdom is home to many universities, including the [[University of Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge]] which often achieve first place on global rankings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 October 2022 |title=The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023 |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2023/world-ranking |access-date=5 February 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=QS World University Rankings |url=https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2023 |access-date=5 February 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

University education has varied tuition fees between the different regions of the UK. England and Wales have a fixed maximum annual fee for all UK citizens. Northern Ireland and Scotland have a reduced maximum fee or no fee for citizens where it is their home region. Some NHS courses have bursaries which pay the fee and in 2017 it was stated that each doctor gets subsidised by £230,000 during their training.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 October 2014 |title=Undergraduate Tuition Fess and Student Loans |url=https://www.ucas.com/money-and-student-life/money/student-finance/undergraduate-tuition-fees-and-student-loans |access-date=24 February 2024 |website=UCAS}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=More undergraduate medical education places |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-undergraduate-medical-education-places |access-date=24 February 2024 |website=gov.uk}}</ref>

In 2022, the [[Programme for International Student Assessment|Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)]], coordinated by the [[OECD]], ranked the overall knowledge and skills of British 15-year-olds as 14th in the world in reading, mathematics and science. The average British student scored 494, well above the OECD average of 478.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PISA 2022 Results |url=https://www.datapandas.org/ranking/pisa-scores-by-country |access-date=24 February 2024 |website=Data Pandas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=PISA 2022 UK Results |url=https://www.oecd.org/publication/pisa-2022-results/country-notes/united-kingdom-9c15db47#chapter-d1e11 |access-date=24 February 2024 |website=OECD}}</ref>