Drawing from a range of secondary data sources, this paper succinctly overviews patterns of access to good-quality education in Turkey over the last 15 years. It also maps the policy context within which issues of access, quality and equity are examined. As a result of effective supply and demand side strategies, enrolment ratios beyond the primary level have also risen, with the average lower secondary enrolment currently standing at over 90%, and gender disparity has also been achieved at this level. Yet, educational expansion was less successful in the least developed eastern and southeastern regions of Turkey, particularly for girls. Turkey has also given a higher priority to the quality of education, in line with this global paradigm shift towards learning. However, learning levels remain low and largely unequal across regions, ethno-linguistic groups and socio-economic status. School segregation widens inequalities based on students' socio-economic status, which should be taken into account in the aftermath of the new education reforms.