UK rises overall in Pisa rankings, but picture across UK nations more complex

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published the latest international rankings of the performance of 15-year-olds in core subjects, with the UK rising up the ranks in all three categories.

The triennial Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) compares standardised test results in reading, maths and science across 79 countries. While the UK has seen modest improvements across all three categories, UK teenagers polled in the programme were found to have amongst the lowest levels of ‘life satisfaction’, and the UK still lags behind top performers such as China, Singapore and Estonia.

Across UK nations, reading scores have risen across the board, although Wales remains below the OECD average. Wales remains the lowest performing nation in the UK across all subjects, although it has shown significant improvement in maths. Scotland out-performed Northern Ireland in reading, but not maths and science, a result that several publications blamed on the SNP’s education policies. England’s significant improvement in maths and small increase in reading scores are credited with helping the UK rise through the ranks.

Paul Whiteman of the National Association of Head Teachers said teachers and school leaders deserved to feel good about the results, "given the very difficult circumstances in which they have been forced to operate over the past 10 years".

UK school reforms to come under scrutiny as world rankings released (The Guardian) Pisa tests: UK rises in international school rankings (BBC) England climbs Pisa table as reading and maths improve (TES) Pisa 2018 results reveal a mixed picture for Scotland (The Times) Wales makes progress in Pisa maths tests (TES)

Why should this matter to me? Scotland has seen negative headlines over this story, as the time period of the assessment is roughly equal to the SNP’s time in office, and could be seen as a verdict on the SNP’s education policies. The SNP, if they keep their seats in the General Election, may be keen to devote more funding to maths and science, to secure better results in the next Pisa rankings. The results also flag the increasing importance of student wellbeing: with this in mind, schools may opt to invest in resilience-building tools and environment-enriching products.