Pisa: scores rise in science but flatten in maths and reading

England has increased its science score and marginally beaten its previous reading score but remained static in maths in the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) study of 15-year-olds.

Compared with the previous Pisa study in 2022, science increased from 503 to 516, reading moved from 496 to 497, and mathematics remained at 492.

In response, the government has warned of the dangers of “standing still” and has pointed to Estonia and Switzerland as countries that have performed strongly in Pisa while having a focus on vocational education - just as it seeks to progress its own plans for new “technical routes” in schools.

The Pisa study, carried out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), is published every three years and compares education outcomes across high- and middle-income countries and economies.

This time, more than 760,000 students from 91 countries and economies took part, leading to Pisa’s biggest-ever dataset.

Pisa: international and domestic comparisons

While much of the published data gathers scores for the UK as a whole, Pisa also allows for comparisons between the four UK nations. In 2025, England recorded the highest scores in maths, reading and science.

Meanwhile, although the OECD warns against compiling league tables of very different education systems, separate analysis of the Pisa data shows England ranking highly in international terms: at eighth for science, ninth for reading and tenth for maths.

Today’s data also shows England widening the gaps between its results and the OECD averages for maths, reading and science.

Average OECD scores fell in all three subjects between 2022 and 2025: from 472 to 463 in maths, from 476 to 461 in reading, and from 485 to 482 in science.

How did England score in maths, reading and science?

Scores in England were derived from 5,619 students across 183 schools that took part in Pisa testing.

England’s average score in maths is down 12 points from 504 in 2018, the last round of Pisa before the Covid pandemic.

In reading, the average score was 497 in 2025, up one point from 496 in the previous survey, but still down from the 505 recorded before the pandemic in 2018.

However, there was a different picture for science. England’s average score in science was 516, an increase from 503 in 2022 and also up from the 507 recorded in the pre-pandemic year of 2018. It was the highest figure for science since 2012, when the score was also 516.

How did the four UK nations perform?

Across the UK, Wales ranked last among all four nations in maths, reading and science. Scotland was second to England in reading, while Northern Ireland ranked second in maths and science.

The UK as a whole, like England, recorded scores above the OECD average for maths, reading and science.

DfE response to the 2025 Pisa results

In a written briefing, the Department for Education said that the results provide a “strong academic foundation” to build on and “reflect decades of reform to raise academic standards” - while alluding to its own plans to make vocational education a more central part of schools in England.

The DfE noted that “strong results are not an argument for standing still” and that England’s reading and maths scores in Pisa “haven’t improved in 10 years”, adding: “We don’t want to go up in the international league tables solely because other countries are declining. Other countries have continued to improve despite the pandemic, while too many young people here are still being left behind.”

It pointed to “high-performing systems including Estonia and Switzerland”, which showed that “academic and vocational excellence can coexist”. In Switzerland, the DfE said, around two-thirds of young people enter vocational education, predominantly through employer-led apprenticeships.

The DfE also highlighted a less-reported aspect of Pisa studies: students’ sense of belonging. The department noted that the UK “performs less well comparatively when it comes to the value children place on school and their sense of belonging”.

The OECD’s own analysis finds that, internationally, “girls report a significantly weaker sense of belonging than boys”, with the largest gaps observed in six countries: Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Denmark and the UK.

Caution advised by leaders

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, urged caution when interpreting the Pisa results, noting that countries take part during different stages of education policy development.

“That these findings continue to be broadly positive is testament to the professionalism, expertise and dedication of the school workforce,” he said.

“But these results also demonstrate that the government cannot be complacent and must place trust in the expertise of school leaders, teachers and support staff - ensuring they have the resources, support and freedom they need to help all children flourish.”

John Jerrim, professor of education and social statistics at UCL Institute of Education, said that where England “pulls ahead” of the rest of the UK is in the highest-scoring students. Professor Jerrim told Tes that the “stretching” of top performers in England is a “real strength” compared with other UK nations and may partly be driving England’s higher results.

Christian Bokhove, professor in mathematics education at the University of Southampton, told Tes that England’s results showed improvement among both the highest and lowest achievers, when compared with national OECD averages.

“You could argue, in a modest way, that the whole distribution has become slightly more positive, certainly compared to ‘the rest of the world’,” he said.

Widespread stagnation and decline

In analysis accompanying the main 2025 Pisa findings, the OECD’s director for education and skills, Andreas Schleicher, said: “At a time when technological innovation and interconnected global challenges are reshaping societies, one would hope that educational attainment is going up. The need for a highly educated and adaptable population has never been greater.”

He added: “But the Pisa results show that progress in educational outcomes has been uneven. Learning outcomes have stagnated or declined in many countries, in some cases for well over a decade, and gaps in achievement persist across socioeconomic groups.”