The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025 results, published earlier this month, paint a largely positive picture for the UK. The findings show a clear improvement in the science attainment of 15-year-olds, alongside stable performance in reading and mathematics, against a backdrop of declining achievement across many education systems internationally. By contrast, attainments in reading and mathematics declined in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, while science performance improved only marginally.
England’s strong performance helped place the UK among the ten highest-performing education systems internationally, ahead of several industrialised nations including France, Germany, Australia and Finland. The highest-performing systems continue to be concentrated in East Asia, with Singapore, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and several Chinese provinces remaining significantly ahead of most other participating countries. Estonia remains the notable European exception.
Despite these encouraging results, important challenges remain. Data from the student questionnaire suggest that young people in the UK report weaker feelings of belonging at school, higher levels of bullying and more behavioural difficulties than the OECD average. Such findings indicate that academic performance alone does not provide a complete picture of educational success and student wellbeing.