OECD PISA 2025 report shows global decline in student reading and math skills

Global drop across OECD countries

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published its 2025 PISA survey on 8 September 2026, evaluating 15-year-old students across 91 countries and economies. The findings show the lowest average performance levels recorded since the triennial assessment began in 2001. Across OECD member states, average scores fell by 14 points in reading comprehension, 9 points in mathematics, and 3 points in science compared to the 2022 cycle. In total, 20% of evaluated students now fail to reach baseline competency across reading, mathematics, and science, up from 16% in 2022. Over the past decade, learning delays across the OECD have grown to 1.5 years in reading comprehension and more than one year in mathematics.

National results in France and Belgium

In France, student scores in mathematics dropped by 16 points, while reading comprehension fell between 18 and 20 points compared to 2022. In terms of curriculum progress, French 15-year-olds accumulated a 10-month learning delay in reading and a nine-month delay in mathematics relative to 2022 levels. Science results remained comparatively stable, losing 4 points, which represents a two-month delay. France ranks 27th out of 91 participating systems, losing one place since the previous edition. In neighboring Belgium, reading comprehension also retreated, leaving nearly 30% of students below the minimum required proficiency threshold. French commentators also pointed out domestic constraints, including the fact that over 80% of French pupils attend public schools due to a shortage of places in state-contracted private institutions.

France remains in the average of the OECD countries, but the overall scores are lower and lower. Countries are continuing the global decline about which the OECD had already sounded the alarm in 2022.

Digital media and classroom factors

Socioeconomic background continues to drive disparities in academic achievement, while digital habits have emerged as a significant factor in recent score trajectories. PISA data indicates that only 20% to 30% of students avoid using artificial intelligence tools. Higher science scores correlate with lower artificial intelligence usage and disciplined use of digital hardware for educational tasks. Commentators noted that constant engagement with image-focused social networks like Instagram and TikTok erodes reading stamina and text comprehension. Other contributing elements cited across European systems include classroom disruptions, teacher shortages, unproven educational software, and lingering learning losses from pandemic closures in countries such as Germany and Norway.

Economic consequences and policy debates

Education Minister Édouard Geffray described the French findings as concerning, arriving seven months before the presidential election. Business leaders warned that declining educational standards reduce long-term workforce productivity, national wealth generation, and pension funding. Pierre-André de Chalendar pointed to OECD research evaluating potential gains from educational improvements.

The OECD made a calculation showing that if France were today in the average of the 10 best, we would have a productivity in France that would be 2.7% higher.

To address the decline, business representatives recommended granting school principals greater managerial autonomy and increasing teacher salaries, pointing to structural reforms that lifted performance in Portugal and Poland.