Student performance in reading and mathematics has declined significantly across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, according to the latest results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
Reading recorded the sharpest decline. The OECD released the PISA 2025 Results (Volume I) : Future-Ready Students on September 8. The assessment covered more than 760,000 15-year-old students from 91 countries and economies. students were also assessed in reading, mathematics and learning in the digital world While science was the main focus of the 2025 assessment. Between 2015 and 2025, the average reading score across OECD countries fell by 28 points. Mathematics scores also dropped by 22 points, representing more than one year of learning.
This decline is equivalent to roughly one and a half years of learning, according to the OECD.
Science performance, however, remained relatively stable. After a decline between 2009 and 2022, the average science score across OECD countries showed little change between 2022 and 2025. The OECD nevertheless warned that the broader decline in student achievement cannot be explained solely by the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as some downward trends began earlier.
