Children in Right Grade for Age

This indicator measures the proportion of children – whether in formal or non-formal education (NFE) - who are in the correct grade or level for their age. It can be used as a means of understanding needs (i.e. whether children have been out of school for prolonged periods of time or are falling behind in their learning) or to measure the effectiveness or impact of an intervention on children’s learning and academic progression.

1) Ask education authorities, schools or learning spaces to share information on official age brackets by grade or learning level, including the birth date range used to determine whether children belong in one grade/level or another (for example, children born between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019 may belong in Grade 1, whether as those born after 31 August 2019 belong in the academic year below).

2) Gather enrolment data of children by grade/level including birth dates (or ages if birth dates aren’t available). See Enrolment indicator for more information on gathering enrolment data.

3) Use the gathered data to determine how many children in the assessed grade/level fall inside this official age bracket (i.e. are not too young or old for the grade/level they are in).

4) Divide the number of children in the official age bracket by the total number of children in that grade/level. Multiply this number by 100 to get the percentage of children who are in the correct grade/level for their age.

Disaggregation of the data can be done by age group, gender, level of education, ethnicity, mother tongue, wealth quintile, disability, displacement status and/or other specific vulnerable and marginalised groups, as relevant.

Disaggregation of data by disability type should use the Washington Group Short Set on Functioning (or for actions with specialised responses to disabilities use the complete WG/UNICEF Child Functioning Module) or equivalent.

1) This is INEE Indicator 3.3

2) The purpose of this indicator can vary depending on the specific programmatic requirements or area of interest. It can be used to understand:

     a) The needs in a particular context or community by assessing how many and to what degree children are behind in their education (i.e. not at the right grade level for their age). This information can be used in project design to ensure that the appropriate type and level of support is provided to children with learning gaps and in need of catch-up or remedial education.

     b) The effectiveness of a project or intervention on children’s learning levels, retention in education (both formal and non-formal) and transition (between NFE cycles or formal education grades/levels, or from NFE to formal education). To measure this, it is required to have both baseline and endline data on children’s grade levels in order to make a comparison between the situation pre- and post-intervention.

3) Information can also be collected on the percentage of children who are too young for the grade/level they are in, although this scenario is often less likely and not indicative of children having been out of school or falling behind in their education. There may be other reasons for this scenario, which can be explored separately through a survey or key informant interviews (KIIs). 

4) Information on age can also be used to advocate for different learning approaches (for example, dividing grades/levels/classes by age and/or academic ability) to ensure that children are learning amongst children of a similar age and ability, and therefore more likely to be receiving higher quality learning support.

5) Related indicators: 

    ECHO

       - KRI: number of targeted girls and boys enrolled in [optional: and retained in] [select: formal/non-formal] education services [in a given school year or project period] (see Enrolment indicator)

       - KRI: % of targeted girls and boys who are retained in education at the end of the action/school years/NFE cycle (see Retention indicator)

       - KOI: % targeted girls and boys for non-formal education (NFE) who transition (1) into formal education from non-formal education (NFE), or (2) advance into the next level of NFE or (3) into the next academic year of formal education (see Transition indicator)