‘Top of the class in EU’ v ‘getting weaker at maths and reading’ — one set of scores, one morning

One release, four countries, four verdicts. The 2025 PISA tests were published on 8 September. Five of the seven reports we hold went out within a minute of each other.

The field chosen decides the verdict. RTÉ ranks Ireland first for reading out of the 27 EU countries, and gives no score and no trend. TheJournal.ie gives both placings in one sentence: seventh among the 91 countries analysed, and top in the EU.

Headline against body. RNZ's headline has New Zealand turning around 20 years of decline; its text reports reading at a new low of 497. ABC News states Australia's lowest-ever scores without attaching a score.

The fall is not one country's. The Irish Times quotes the OECD calling the decline in reading "pervasive" and dating its start before Covid. The Morning Star carries the same worldwide warning.

Not settled. Only the Morning Star breaks the results down by British nation; no other report we hold gives figures for England, Scotland or Wales. We hold nothing on Canada's result. No report we hold quotes a 15-year-old.

What this is about. One international test measures how well 15-year-olds read, do maths and understand science. This story is about how each country's press read the same results.

How it got here. The OECD runs the test. It is a Paris-based organisation of mostly wealthy democracies, founded in 1961, and the test is its Programme for International Student Assessment, known as PISA. The first round was in 2000. It has run every three years since, with reading, maths and science tested each time. The round due in 2021 was pushed back to 2022 by the Covid pandemic. Students sat the latest round in 2025, and the results came out on 8 September 2026. ABC News reports that 91 countries and economies took part. The OECD says 20 points on the scale is roughly one year of learning.

In many countries, scores had been falling for years before the pandemic. The Irish Times reports that the OECD dates the fall in reading to before Covid. The OECD links it to "increased digitalisation" and to fewer teenagers reading for enjoyment. That is the OECD's explanation, not a settled cause.

Who is involved. Governments run the schools, and the results are used to judge them. In the United Kingdom, education is devolved. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each run their own schools, so a single British figure hides four separate systems. Ireland, Australia and New Zealand each publish their own national report alongside the OECD's. National bodies such as the Australian Council for Educational Research run the test in their own country.

What is at stake. Ministers use PISA to argue for or against reforms. On the day of release, Australia's Education Minister, Jason Clare, cited it to support changes to classroom teaching. A country's rank depends on which group it is compared with: the 27 EU states, the OECD, or all 91 taking part. The sample matters too. New Zealand's Education Ministry says more high achievers than usual sat the test, so its results may be 10 to 15 points too high.

Where it stands. The 2025 results are final and published. The test runs again on its three-year cycle.