Results from the latest international test of 15-year-olds have prompted another round of headlines suggesting there are serious problems with Australia’s academic results.
Some outlets reported Australian reading and maths results in the PISA tests have taken a “plunge” and sunk to an “all-time low”.
At the same time, headlines have lamented “Australia’s classroom disruption [is] among worst in world”.
As someone who has researched PISA for 25 years from three different countries (Norway, England and Australia), what do the results tell us, beyond the punchy headlines?
What is PISA?
PISA stands for the Programme for International Student Assessment. It’s an international survey comparing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students across 91 OECD countries.
It also involves a survey of students about their classroom experiences.
PISA is conducted every three years and aims to assess how effectively students can transfer the lessons learnt in school into the real world. The tasks in PISA are less about memory and more focused on students’ ability to analyse and problem-solve.
PISA tests students in three main domains: mathematics, science and reading literacy. In 2025 it also added a new area: learning in the digital world, which tested digital skills.
In the latest round, conducted in 2025, 91 countries and 760,000 students participated. This makes PISA the largest education survey in the world.
In Australia, 766 schools from all states and territories and 14,658 students participated.
Australian students perform above average
Despite the alarmist headlines, in 2025 Australian students maintained above OECD-average scores in reading, science and mathematics.
The report ranked Australia in 11th place for reading and science, and 17th in maths.
In reading, Australian 15-year-olds scored an average of 491 points, compared with the OECD average of 461. In maths, Australian students recorded an average score of 478, compared with the OECD average of 463.
Australian students’ science scores were strong. Their mean score of 509 remained stable and was considerably higher than the OECD average of 482.
It would be helpful to know more about what Australian teachers are doing well – and how can we make sure this knowledge is shared across the country.
For the first time, the 2025 survey also tested students’ ability to problem-solve using technology. Australian students performed strongly in this area, scoring 532 – well above the OECD average of 500.
Lower scores in reading and maths
While the average science score has remained consistent over the past ten years, the mean scores for Australian students in reading and maths were lower in 2025 than 2022.
These declines in reading and maths follow a long-term trend – Australia’s scores have been dropping since 2003.
It’s important to note maths, reading and science scores have been declining globally, especially across OECD countries. Here, 20% of all 15-year-olds are now considered low performers in these three learning domains.
Why are we seeing a drop?
The PISA survey doesn’t report on the reasons for these trends.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare says too much screen time in schools is behind a decline in academic results.
The OECD has also suggested digital devices could have made an impact on global reading skills, but this is only a suggestion at this point, and more research is needed.
We simply do not yet know enough about the quality of students’ technology use, the impact on learning, when to use digital devices and when not to.
Are Australian classrooms too noisy?
As part of the survey, students were asked to report on how disruptive their science lessons were.
In Australia, 41% of students reported science classes as being disrupted by noise and disorder compared with the OECD average of 31%.
About 34% of Australian students said their peers didn’t listen to the teacher during science lessons.
The results about Australian classrooms being particularly disruptive are similar to previous rounds of PISA reporting, in 2019 and 2022.
These perspectives are based on self-reports, which research has shown are often biased. They can also simply depend on personal preferences. What some students report as disturbances might be productive discussions for other students.
To better understand these results, we need further evidence-based research of how classes are run. This includes reports from teachers and other observations of classrooms.
This is a complex report, with many stories
There was also positive news in the latest PISA data about school cultures.
The results show the majority of Australian students find their teachers caring and supportive.
About 79% reported their teacher showed an interest in all students’ learning in most science lessons, compared with the OECD average of 69%. The report also found 80% of students believe their teacher offers extra help to students when they need it.
What now?
Australia’s PISA results are worth reflecting on as we support the next generation to succeed in an increasingly complex world.
But the numbers are a starting point only, not the full story. We also need time for further research and analysis.
That includes discussing the results with students and teachers to agree on what is going well, and working with them on what is needed to improve their learning and teaching.
The post “Australia’s reading and maths results are at an ‘all-time low’ – but there’s more to the story” by Therese N. Hopfenbeck, Professor in Educational Assessment, Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne was published on 09/10/2026 by theconversation.com