Abstract: Drawing on the test data from Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2015, this paper attempts to examine the impact of extended compulsory education on the development of basic education from an international perspective. Duration of compulsory education is one of the key indicators to measure the development level of compulsory education. Compared with the age of enrollment, the stipulations of the years of compulsory education are quite different. Based on the analysis of survey data, it is found that extending compulsory education to 12 years had the greatest positive effect on students' science, mathematics and reading literacy scores, while admission age at 6 had significant and positive effect on students' literacy. Among the countries and economies whose cumulative expenditure per student is under USD 50,000, higher spending on education is significantly associated with higher student achievement.

Key words: compulsory education, basic education, PISA, student literacy