Global PISA Scores Drop Sharply in Reading and Math

The 2025 PISA test results reveal a historic decline in reading and math skills worldwide, with countries like Germany, France, and Australia hitting new lows, while South Korea remained near the top.

8 Sept, 07:30 — 8 Sept, 07:46

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Why this matters

PISA is one of the most influential global education benchmarks, and a widespread drop in reading and math raises concerns about future competitiveness and equity. Governments use these results to justify reforms, while debates over causes—from school closures and curricula to AI and social media—are likely to shape education policy for years. The sharp declines, especially Germany's worst-ever performance, put pressure on political leaders to respond.

Key entitiesOECD PISA Germany France Iceland South Korea Lannert Judit

The Story

What 14 sources agree on, dispute, and miss

What sources agree on

The 2025 PISA study shows a global decline in reading and math performance among 15-year-olds.
Germany recorded its worst PISA results since the assessment began.
Reading skills fell especially sharply across multiple countries.
The OECD published the PISA results on September 8, 2026.

Key claims2 agreed · 4 unverified

✓

The 2025 PISA results show a global decline in reading and math skills among 15-year-olds.

agreed·DWle-figaro20-minutenaftonbladetfaz+8

✓

Germany recorded its worst PISA results since the assessment began.

agreed·DWfaztagesschauder-spiegel

One in three German 15-year-olds has problems with math and reading.

unverified·tagesschau

Iceland's PISA performance has fallen more since 2015 than any other participating country.

unverified·morgunbladid

French students scored 34th in math and 28th in reading.

unverified·le-figaro

South Korean students remained near the top globally in science and math despite a reading decline.

unverified·Korea Herald

Where they diverge

Severity and characterization of the global decline

DWaftonbladetder-spiegelmorgunbladidsydney-morning-herald+1 morehvg

Portray an alarming global education crisis with historic, catastrophic, or record-breaking declines.

Korea Herald20-minuten

Stress relative success, noting Korea's top-tier performance and Switzerland's above-average results despite the overall drop.

le-figarofaztagesschauluxemburger-wortder-standard

Focus on their own countries' falling results while acknowledging the wider global trend and offering contextual data.

Attribution of causes

der-standard

Raises AI and social media as possible drivers of the reading decline.

luxemburger-wort

Emphasizes socioeconomic background as a key factor behind achievement gaps.

hvg

Quotes an expert blaming a global education crisis and notes the education minister's defensive response.

DWle-figaro20-minutenaftonbladetfaz+6 moretagesschauKorea Heraldder-spiegelmorgunbladidsydney-morning-heraldvg

Report the results without assigning a single causal explanation.

Germany-specific framing

der-spiegel

Dramatizes a 'historic low' and says deficits are as large as in hardly any other country.

faz

Reports the worst-ever German results while noting 14 states outperform Germany in science, giving a comparative angle.

tagesschau

Presents the decline factually, noting that one in three German teens struggles with math and reading.

Coverage gaps

Specific PISA rankings for France: 34th in math and 28th in reading.

Reportedle-figaro

MissingDW20-minutenaftonbladet+10

Iceland's PISA performance has fallen more since 2015 than any other tested country.

Reportedmorgunbladid

MissingDWle-figaro20-minuten+10

South Korean students scored highly in digital problem-solving and remained top performers in science and math.

ReportedKorea Herald

MissingDWle-figaro20-minuten+10

Question of whether AI and social media are responsible for reading decline, plus an estimate of 1.5 lost learning years over the past decade.

Reportedder-standard

MissingDWle-figaro20-minuten+10

Luxembourg's particularly large learning gaps tied to students' socioeconomic backgrounds.

Reportedluxemburger-wort

MissingDWle-figaro20-minuten+10

Coverage matrix(14 sources)

1–10 of 14

	tagesschau	faz	DW	le-figaro	aftonbladet	der-spiegel	der-standard	vg	morgunbladid	sydney-morning-herald
Severity and characterization of the global decline
Germany-specific framing
Specific PISA rankings for France: 34th in math and 28th in reading.
Iceland's PISA performance has fallen more since 2015 than any other tested country.
South Korean students scored highly in digital problem-solving and remained top performers in science and math.
Question of whether AI and social media are responsible for reading decline, plus an estimate of 1.5 lost learning years over the past decade.

Covered Divergent Not mentioned

The Story

Analyzing sources…

Source Diversity

Excellent (92/100)

14 sources33/33

Spectrum spread— 4/5 buckets covered25/33

Far L1

Far Left (1)

aftonbladet

Left5

Left (5)

DWder-spiegelsydney-morning-heraldhvgder-standard

Center4

Center (4)

20-minutentagesschauKorea Heraldvg

Right4

Right (4)

le-figarofazluxemburger-wortmorgunbladid

Far R

Geographic diversity— 11 regions34/34

Germany4France1Switzerland1Sweden1South Korea1Luxembourg1Iceland1Australia1Hungary1Austria1Norway1

Political spectrum

LeftCenterRight

aftonbladet

der-standard

der-spiegel

sydney-morning-herald

hvg

20-minuten

tagesschau

korea-herald

luxemburger-wort

faz

morgunbladid

le-figaro

Outlet rating This story

SourceOutletiGeneral editorial lean of the outletStoryiHow they covered this specific storyToneFactuality

aftonbladetcenter-leftleftalarmist—stresses historic Swedish knowledge collapse

der-standardcenter-leftcenter-leftanalytical—questions AI and social media causes

der-spiegelcenter-leftcenter-left

Coverage leans: center-left

The overall coverage leans slightly center-left, driven by German, Austrian, Hungarian and Swedish outlets that frame PISA results as an education crisis and subtly implicate policy failures, while French and Icelandic conservative outlets also sound national alarm. Swiss, Korean and Norwegian outlets provide centrist counterweights by highlighting relative success or simply announcing the results.

Sources

Showing 3 of 14 sources

DWHigh14m ago

PISA test reveals alarming drop in reading and math skills worldwide

The influential global study shows a downward trend in students' performances. Germany is faring worse than ever.

Read full article →

sydney-morning-heraldMostly Factual30m ago

Australian students’ reading and maths results plunge in global rankings

The results show almost a quarter of students are “low performers” in mathematics while that figure rises to 29 per cent in reading.

By Christopher Harris

Read full article →

Korea HeraldMostly Factual30m ago

Korean students rank near top globally in PISA despite reading decline

South Korean students remained among the world’s strongest performers in science and mathematics and scored highly in a new assessment of digital problem-solving, even as their reading performance showed a statistically significant decline over the past decade. Korean 15-year-olds scored an average of 526 in science, 501 in reading and 522 in mathematics in the 2025 Program for International Student Assessment, according to results released Tuesday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation an

By The Korea Herald

Read full article →

Coverage Timeline

First report: vg · 8 Sept, 07:15|Full coverage: 14 · 30m|Window: 30m

Left-leaningCenterRight-leaning

vg8 Sept, 07:15First to report

Lesújtó PISA-eredmények: Matekból és szövegértésből minden idők legrosszabb eredményét érték el a 15 éves tanulók

der-standard8 Sept, 07:30

Pisa: Schülerinnen und Schüler lesen immer schlechter

Korea Herald8 Sept, 07:30

Korean students rank near top globally in PISA despite reading decline

tagesschau8 Sept, 07:30

Deutsche Schüler schneiden bei der PISA-Studie schlecht ab

faz8 Sept, 07:30

PISA-Studie 2025: Deutsche Schüler schneiden so schlecht ab wie nie zuvor

aftonbladet8 Sept, 07:30

Historiskt dåligt resultat för elever i Pisa-mätning

20-minuten8 Sept, 07:40

Pisa-Studie: Fähigkeiten in Mathe und Lesen nehmen ab

le-figaro8 Sept, 07:45

Classement Pisa 2026 : la France au plus bas et une maîtrise de la lecture en chute libre partout dans le monde

DW8 Sept, 07:46Latest update

PISA test reveals alarming drop in reading and math skills worldwide

Story evolution

Coverage started as a data-release announcement, then quickly fragmented into country-specific crisis narratives before returning to a broad global-decline frame in later summaries.

AnnouncementSept 8, 07:15 UTC

vg notes the PISA results are being presented, with no detailed findings yet.

National breakdownsSept 8, 07:30 UTC

German, French, Swedish, Icelandic, Australian, Hungarian, Austrian, Korean and Luxembourgish outlets publish their countries' specific declines and rankings.

Global synthesisSept 8, 07:40–07:46 UTC

dw and 20-minuten deliver wider global and comparative summaries, consolidating the picture of a worldwide drop.

Global PISA Scores Drop Sharply in Reading and Math

Why this matters

The Story

What sources agree on

Key claims2 agreed · 4 unverified

Where they diverge

Coverage gaps

Coverage matrix(14 sources)

The Story

Source Diversity

Source Diversity

Political spectrum

Sources

PISA test reveals alarming drop in reading and math skills worldwide

Australian students’ reading and maths results plunge in global rankings

Korean students rank near top globally in PISA despite reading decline

Coverage Timeline

Pisa-resultatene legges frem

Pisa-Studie: Deutschland rutscht auf »historischen Tiefstand«

PISA 2025: Luxemburger Schüler verlieren deutlich bei Lesen und Mathematik

Ísland hrunið mest allra ríkja í PISA

Australian students’ reading and maths results plunge in global rankings

Lesújtó PISA-eredmények: Matekból és szövegértésből minden idők legrosszabb eredményét érték el a 15 éves tanulók

Pisa: Schülerinnen und Schüler lesen immer schlechter

Korean students rank near top globally in PISA despite reading decline

Deutsche Schüler schneiden bei der PISA-Studie schlecht ab

PISA-Studie 2025: Deutsche Schüler schneiden so schlecht ab wie nie zuvor

Historiskt dåligt resultat för elever i Pisa-mätning

Pisa-Studie: Fähigkeiten in Mathe und Lesen nehmen ab

Classement Pisa 2026 : la France au plus bas et une maîtrise de la lecture en chute libre partout dans le monde

PISA test reveals alarming drop in reading and math skills worldwide

Story evolution

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Why this matters

The Story

What sources agree on

Key claims2 agreed · 4 unverified

Where they diverge

Coverage gaps

Coverage matrix(14 sources)

Story evolution

Political spectrum