Comparability
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Population and Education, Social StatisticsMikkel Jonasson Pedersen
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The current time series of these statistics goes back to 2005, but statistics on medium-cycle higher education have been made further back than this. It may be difficult to compare the figures internationally, as medium-cycle higher education is defined differently from country to country.
Comparability - geographical
The statistics form part of the basis of data in the OECD publication Education at a Glance with international comparisons of entrance to and graduations from the education system.
The education system varies a lot between different countries. When comparing across countries one should therefore take into account that medium-cycle higher education can be understood differently. An education which is a medium-cycle higher education in one country might not be a medium-cycle higher education in another country.
Comparability over time
The current time series of these statistics goes back to 2005.
Archived tables in the StatBank
The earliest figures on medium-cycle higher education in the StatBank are from 1991. The archived tables are not directly comparable with the active tables. Firstly, the archived tables are based on the old educational classification, which is no longer used. Second, the archived tables are based on an older version of the Student Register.
It should be noted that an education which changes educational level is placed on the new level in the education classification. This can affect comparisons with figures published in earlier years.
Historical data
The term medium-cycle higher education was used for the first time in a statistical yearbook in 1980.
Coherence - cross domain
Since the statistic is publicized together with the statistic about other educational levels in the Student Register, it is possible to compare with statistics for other educational levels.
Coherence - internal
All data sources are considered to have the same high quality.