“Gross” enrollment includes students of all ages. In other words, it includes students whose age exceeds the official age group (e.g. repeaters). Thus, if there is late enrollment, early enrollment, or repetition, the total enrollment can exceed the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education – leading to ratios greater than 100 percent

“Net” enrollment includes only children of the official school age, as defined by the national education system. Small discrepancies in the reported age of children may occasionally cause net enrollment rates to exceed 100 percent.

Since the net enrollment rate excludes overage and underage students, it more accurately captures education system’s coverage and internal efficiency than gross enrollment ratio. However, it is useful to see differences between the gross enrollment ratio and the net enrollment rate for capturing the incidence of overage and underage enrollments.