Lifelong learning matters more than ever: the OECD Education Policy Outlook 2025 report

A new OECD report, Education Policy Outlook 2025, looks at how countries can turn good intentions into true lifelong-learning systems that support people at four pivotal stages of life: early childhood, adolescence, mid-career, and the years approaching retirement. These are stages when individuals are especially open to learning or at risk of disengagement, and well-timed policy action can have particularly lasting returns for individuals and societies.

Wills, skills, and means

The report draws on evidence from 35 countries and more than 230 policies to identify what actually helps people keep learning. It identifies strategic choices of policy design, as well as how these support learners’ will, skills, and means. In doing so, it aims to support countries in advancing the goals set by the 2022 OECD Declaration on Building Equitable Societies Through Education.

What differentiates lifelong learners is their ability to direct and sustain their own learning by mobilising the three essentials of the Will-Skills-Means framework:

• Will: the curiosity, confidence, and purpose to keep learning.
• Skills: the cognitive, social, and digital foundations to acquire and apply new knowledge.
• Means: the time, resources and networks that make participation possible.

Understanding the variety of policies

The report serves as a comparative handbook for policymakers, analysing how countries are building more coherent lifelong-learning systems.

It supports the implementation of the 2022 OECD Education Ministerial Declaration on Building Equitable Societies through Education by identifying policies that help individuals develop the will, skills, and means to engage in learning throughout life, and also contributes to policy dialogue across OECD and partner economies by translating international evidence into actionable insights.

Life stages and policy priorities

Early childhood (0–6): Building curiosity and confidence
Early childhood forms the basis for lifelong learning, shaping dispositions like curiosity, persistence, and motivation. Families, educators, and coherent policies ensure quality experiences. Policies focus on:

• Will: Nurturing positive learning dispositions.
• Skills: Supporting early cognitive and socio-emotional development, quality provision, and appropriate digital use.
• Means: Strengthening home learning, ensuring equitable access, and fostering cross-sector collaboration.

Priorities: Support the workforce through time, training, and resources; strengthen family engagement; expand access, as in Czechia and Spain.

Early to mid-adolescence (10–16): Shaping identity and purpose

Adolescence is a period of identity formation and heightened disengagement risk. Relevant, relational, and purposeful learning sustains motivation and self-belief. Policies focus on:

• Will: Developing agency and socio-emotional skills.
• Skills: Ensuring effective teaching and transversal competencies.
• Means: Using digitalisation, improving career guidance, and supporting cross-sector collaboration.

Priorities: Invest in continuous, practice-based teacher learning that links curricula, digital tools, and assessment. Examples include Finland’s curriculum reforms and Iceland’s cross-sector collaboration.

Mid-career (35–44): Supporting flexibility and mobility 

Adults balance work and family while needing opportunities that lead to recognised outcomes. Policies focus on:

• Will: Boosting motivation through entitlements, guidance, and peer networks.
• Skills: Providing modular, stackable qualifications, and digital/transversal skills.
• Means: Improving access through funding, guidance, digital tools, and labour-market partnerships.

Priorities: Offer short, flexible courses; strengthen recognition of diverse learning pathways. Estonia recognises non-formal and informal learning; Norway supports employer-based training.

Approaching retirement (55–65): Adapting, contributing, and staying connected 

Later-life learning supports adaptability, purpose, and social participation. Policies focus on:

• Will: Encouraging engagement and valuing experience.
• Skills: Promoting upskilling, digital inclusion, and intergenerational learning.
• Means: Creating age-friendly access, incentives, and coordinated services.

Priorities: Recognise older adults’ experience and promote community learning. Workplaces should adopt age-inclusive practices such as mentoring, flexible arrangements and knowledge transfer, supported by incentives and thoughtful HR design.