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Educational barriers are conditions or factors that hinder individuals or groups from accessing, participating in, or successfully progressing through education, relative to the opportunities and expectations established within an education system ^[1][2][3][4]. They include obstacles linked to economic circumstances (such as costs and resource constraints), physical and infrastructural conditions (such as distance, facilities, or disability access), social and cultural contexts (such as discrimination, language, or stereotypes), and institutional practices (such as tracking, admission rules, or assessment policies) that restrict learners’ presence, participation, and learning ^[1][2]. Educational barriers are characterized by their impact on key dimensions of inclusion—who can enrol, remain, and achieve—and are often manifested in attainment gaps, differential achievement, and patterns of exclusion among vulnerable or marginalized groups ^[2][3][4]. Within equity-focused educational research and policy, educational barriers denote the set of structural, relational, and procedural constraints that must be identified and addressed to ensure fair educational opportunities, distinguishing barriers to access and participation from subsequent differences in educational quality and outcomes ^[1][2][3][4].