Primary education in Saudi Arabia lasts six years, and children at the age of 6 enter the first grade of primary education. All national primary schools are day schools and are not co-educational. In order to move on to intermediate education, children must pass the examination at the end of Grade 6 of primary school and obtain the Elementary Education Certificate.
According to government data, 2,442,482 students (1,255,117 male and 1,187,365 female) are in primary education in 2007 and the number of teachers totals 217,555 (107,227 male and 110,328 female) in 2007. According to UNESCO, the gross enrollment ratio for boys is 99.9 percent, gross enrollment ratio for girls is 96.3 percent, and the total gross enrollment ratio is 98.1 percent in 2007.