Switzerland Tops List as Smartest Nation in Europe: TutorSpace Study Highlights Education Quality and Areas for Improvement

A recent study by TutorSpace named Switzerland as the smartest country in Europe. The study looked at the education quality in 44 European countries without using IQ tests. Instead, it examined factors like school system quality and literacy. The CEO, Patrick Nadler, hopes the study will guide countries in improving their education systems.

The countries were evaluated based on:

Education quality and access: PISA scores (math, reading, science), years of schooling, and tertiary education percentage.
Higher education and research: University quantity and quality, researchers, scientific articles, and patent applications per million people.
Literacy and digital literacy: Books published per capita and internet usage percentage.
Government investment: Expenditure on education and research.

Using data from UNESCO, the World Bank, the UN, and OECD, TutorSpace assigned scores to each country in these categories. Switzerland topped the list with an overall score of 81.1 out of 100, followed by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Albania, North Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked lowest.

Switzerland received praise across categories, especially for education quality and access, higher education, and investment. The study supports the PISA findings from December 2023, ranking Switzerland as having the eighth-best school system globally. However, both studies suggest room for improvement, particularly in literacy, where Switzerland scored lower compared to other top countries.

Here are the top 10 smartest countries in Europe according to TutorSpace: