| Code | SE.PRM.PRS5.ZS |
| Indicator Name | Persistence to grade 5, total (% of cohort) |
| Short definition | Persistence to grade 5 (percentage of cohort reaching grade 5) is the share of children enrolled in the first grade of primary school who eventually reach grade 5. The estimate is based on the reconstructed cohort method. |
| Long definition | Persistence to grade 5 (percentage of cohort reaching grade 5) is the share of children enrolled in the first grade of primary school who eventually reach grade 5. The estimate is based on the reconstructed cohort method. |
| Source | Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/resources, note: The data are obtained through the UIS API. Detailed documentation is available at: https://api.uis.unesco.org/api/public/documentation/, publisher: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), date accessed: 2025-09-22, date published: 2025-09 |
| Topic | Education: Efficiency |
| Dataset | WDI |
| Unit of measure | % of cohort |
| Periodicity | Annual |
| Reference period | 1970-2023 |
| Aggregation method | Weighted average |
| Statistical concept and methodology | Methodology: Cohort survival rate is calculated by dividing the total number of children belonging to a cohort who reached each successive grade of the specified level of education by the number of children in the same cohort; those originally enrolled in the first grade of primary education, and multiplying by 100. To reflect current patterns of grade transition, it is calculated based on the reconstructed cohort method, which uses data on enrollment by grade for the two most recent years and data on repeaters by grade for the most recent of those two years. Aggregate data are based on World Bank estimates.
Data on education are collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics from official responses to its annual education survey. All the data are mapped to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to ensure the comparability of education programs at the international level. The current version was formally adopted by UNESCO Member States in 2011.
The reference years reflect the school year for which the data are presented. In some countries the school year spans two calendar years (for example, from September 2010 to June 2011); in these cases the reference year refers to the year in which the school year ended (2011 in the example).
Statistical concept(s): The cohort survival rate measures an education system's holding power and internal efficiency. Rates approaching 100 percent indicate high retention and low dropout levels. |
| Development relevance | Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 4.1 is committed to ensuring that all girls and boys complete a cycle of free, equitable, and high-quality primary education. Despite this commitment, numerous children in low-income countries are unable to finish their primary schooling. This indicator serves as a measure of an education system's ability to retain students from one grade to the next, thereby reflecting the system's internal efficiency. It also highlights the extent of student dropout rates at each grade level. |
| Limitations and exceptions | The estimates have limitations in capturing real trend in that an observed rate will be applied to the underlying indicators such as repetition rate and promotion rate throughout the cohort life, and re-entrants, grade skipping, migration or transfers during a school year are not adequately captured. |
| License URL | https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/public-licenses#cc-by |
| License Type | CC BY-4.0 |
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