source : the age
More than a quarter of Victoria’s 15-year-olds lack the foundational maths skills needed for further education or work and one in five is falling short in reading as Australia records its worst results in both subjects since international testing began.
The results, released today as part of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment 2025, show East Asian countries surged ahead of the rest of the world in maths, reading and science with researchers warning that digital devices in classrooms were disrupting learning.
OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher said Australia’s biggest fall since the previous PISA test in 2022 after maths was reading, amid evidence students read “faster but less accurately” on digital devices.
“Declining levels of reading for enjoyment and a rapid shift to digital reading…they may have compromised the ability of young people to engage with more complex information,” Schleicher said.
“In Australia [and] in New Zealand students spend quite a bit of time on devices in schools for learning, and also quite a bit of time for leisure [during] school.”
Almost 15,000 students from 766 Australian schools participated in the assessment, a key component of the National Assessment Program, which includes NAPLAN and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, and provides insight on progress towards the goals of the Alice Springs education declaration (Education Council, 2019).
Ninety-one countries or economies participated in PISA 2025, although in some countries the assessment was only conducted in select regions.
The assessment focused on science but also measured how 15-year-olds apply their knowledge in reading and maths, with computational problem-solving or “learning in the digital world” included for the first time.
Students completed a two-hour computer-based assessment and a 45-minute questionnaire on their background and beliefs. Principals and science teachers also completed a 45-minute questionnaire about their schools and teaching.
In Victoria, 26 per cent of students were classified as “low performers” in maths, 21 per cent in reading and 17 per cent in science.
Low performers typically “have not yet developed the foundational competencies required for full participation in further learning, the workforce, and civic life in the 21st century,” according to a report by the Australian Council for Educational Research, which managed the test nationally.
“In science, this means they struggle to interpret simple data or identify evidence in a graph,” Schleicher wrote in his report.
“In reading, they will find it hard to understand simple texts, while in maths they could have trouble deciphering the relationship between units and price – the kind of tasks embedded in everyday life, from grocery shopping to reading a utility bill.”
Australian students’ performance in science remained stable between 2022, when the test was last run, and 2025, with 60 per cent attaining the National Proficiency Standard.
Nationally, students’ results declined in reading, with 55 per cent attaining the national benchmark – down from 2022.
A similar trend was observed in maths, with 49 per cent attaining the national benchmark, also down from 2022.
Independent schools outperformed Catholic schools nationally and both sectors outperformed government schools. However, private schools did not perform better when student performance was adjusted for students’ socioeconomic backgrounds.
The results show a worrying long-term trend for Australian students, with performance declining across all three disciplines from when they were first the focus of the tests, which researchers say is the most accurate comparison. This was 2000 for reading, 2003 for maths and 2006 for science.
Since those respective starting points, science has declined 18 points, reading 37 points and maths 46 points.
“And to give you a sense of that, 20 points are roughly equivalent to what 15-year-olds would learn in a year,” Schleicher said.
ACER report co-author Eveline Gebhardt said Australia started well above the OECD average in all three disciplines, and while performance has declined nationally, it has not declined as sharply as the OECD average.
Gebhardt said the proportion of Australian students who reported being distracted by digital devices was much higher than the OECD average, despite 85 per cent of students attending schools that had banned mobile phones.
“So this distraction is unlikely to be caused by phones, more by the use of laptops or tablets in the classroom. Maybe students play games, or they look things up on the internet, or text each other,” she said.
“What is different in Australia than in other countries is that in Australia, digital distraction was not associated with performance. In other countries, when students report more disruption they usually show lower achievement, and that relationship was not found in Australia.”
In the global rankings, Australia moved up one place in reading from 2022 to 11th, remained 17th in math and slipped one place to 11th in science.
The four participating jurisdictions of China – Beijing, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang – topped the rankings in science and mathematics, followed by Singapore. Singapore outranked the Chinese provinces in reading and topped the global rankings.
The United Kingdom, which PISA considers a comparable country, jumped three places in reading, four places in maths and seven places in science.
Education Minister Jason Clare said the UK’s results showed what was possible and why the reforms Australia is currently rolling out – the sort of reforms England rolled out almost 20 years ago – were so important.
Under Clare, Australia rolled out Year 1 phonics checks at all public schools this year. NSW and South Australia rolled out Year 1 numeracy tests at all public schools this year, and pilots are underway in Victoria and most other jurisdictions.
Clare has also tied $20 billion in funding for public schools to states implementing evidence-based teaching practices and more individualised support, including small-group tutoring.
Education ministers will be presented with recommended changes to the maths curriculum at their next meeting in October, with decisions about the next stage of the reforms expected then.
Ministers will also examine the need to wind back screen time in schools.
“This doesn’t mean there is no place for tech in schools. Students need to learn digital skills. That includes how to use, and how not to use AI,” Clare said.
“But it does point to the need to wind back the amount of screen time in schools. A bit of a digital detox.”
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