The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released the first headline findings from PISA 2025 on 8 September 2026. The assessment involved more than 760,000 students across 91 countries and economies, representing about 33 million 15-year-olds. Science performance stabilised, but reading and mathematics fell to the lowest levels recorded by PISA.
What is PISA?
PISA is the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment. It samples 15-year-old students and examines how well they can apply knowledge and skills in science, reading and mathematics. Science was the main domain in 2025, and the assessment also examined learning and problem-solving in the digital world for the first time.
Five findings students, families and educators should know
- Science stopped declining, but has not recovered. Average science performance was stable between 2022 and 2025 after a longer fall dating back to 2009.
- Reading and mathematics reached record lows. OECD mathematics scores fell nine points and reading scores fell fourteen points compared with 2022.
- One in five students was a low performer in all three core subjects. The corresponding figure in 2022 was one in six.
- Socio-economic inequality remains substantial. Students from more advantaged families scored 85 points higher in science than disadvantaged students across OECD countries—described by the OECD as a gap of about four years of learning.
- Digital habits matter. More than one in four students reported classmates being distracted by digital devices in most or every science lesson. The OECD said technology can help when used purposefully, but excessive or recreational classroom use is associated with weaker outcomes.
What changed in different countries?
The headline results were not uniformly negative. The OECD reported science gains since 2022 in Costa Rica, Slovakia, Türkiye and the United Kingdom, as well as twelve other countries and economies. Cambodia gained 35 science points in three years. Over the longer term, Türkiye moved from below to above the OECD average in science.
What the results suggest for schools
The OECD highlighted six priorities: build mastery of core knowledge, strengthen teacher support, involve parents, encourage talented students to remain in science and technology, direct support to disadvantaged schools, and use artificial intelligence and digital tools carefully rather than allowing them to replace student thinking.
The data also points to pressures beyond devices. Around four in ten students across OECD countries attend schools where principals report that teacher shortages are hindering learning. Only 71% of students said their parents asked about their school day at least weekly in 2025, down from 77% in 2022.
Read the official release
PISA figures require context. Country-level results, sampling methods and later detailed releases should be consulted before drawing conclusions about a particular education system.
A careful interpretation
PISA compares large student samples rather than testing every learner. The results are useful for detecting broad patterns, but they do not determine the ability or future of an individual student. The OECD has said that fuller results from the new Learning in the Digital World assessment will be published in May 2027.
Official source checked: 9 September 2026 · OECD international launch of PISA 2025