Ei-iE

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released the latest edition of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Following the unprecedented drop in performance recorded in 2022, learning outcomes have largely stagnated or continued to decline in many countries. Shorter attention spans, excessive use of AI, and the global teacher shortage are all contributing factors.

“The results of PISA 2025 come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention to the situation in education. Our students are growing up in a world constantly vying for their attention, a world full of distractions and lacking connection. While the global teacher shortage remains unaddressed, AI is being pushed as the magic solution when in fact excessive use results in children outsourcing their learning and their thinking to a bot. Now more than ever, students need teachers. We need to rethink education and strengthen its social core - the fundamental student-teacher relationship”, stated David Edwards, Education International General Secretary.

Noting that a place called school is even more important in the age of AI, Edwards stressed that action was imperative: “As teachers, we will not wait another three years for the next edition of PISA to tell us what we already know: that government inaction leads to declining learning outcomes. Through the Go Public! Fund Education campaign, we will continue to advocate for fully funded public education systems where well-trained and well-supported teachers can work in small classes that allow them to provide each and every student the attention and care they need to thrive.”

PISA 2025 is the ninth round of assessment since 2000. Over 760,000 students representing 33 million 15-year-olds across 91 countries and territories participated in the assessment in 2025, making this the largest PISA ever.

PISA tests the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in mathematics, reading, and science. The major focus in this edition is science. For the first time ever, PISA 2025 looked at student ability to evaluate scientific evidence critically, assess the credibility of information, and apply scientific knowledge to real world decision making. Special attention was given to environmental science and students’ environmental agency.

Learning outcomes stagnated or continued to decline

Compared to previous editions, PISA 2025 reveals a continued downward trend in students’ results. While science scores have remained broadly stable, mathematics scores fell by 22 points between 2015 and 2025 across OECD countries while also decreasing in non-OECD countries.

Reading recorded the steepest decline, with scores falling by 28 points across OECD countries and by 16 points among non-OECD participants between 2015 and 2025. This trend is particularly concerning because reading skills are fundamental to learning across the curriculum.

PISA 2025 points out that increased digitalisation, longer screen time, and falling rates of reading for enjoyment have coincided with weaker literacy outcomes. Countries with the largest declines in reading also tended to record the largest drops in mathematics and science.

False friends: AI and technology

According to the PISA 2025 report, while digital and AI tools are increasingly embedded in students’ learning, their relationship with performance depends on how they are used. Across OECD countries, moderate use of digital devices for learning is associated with stronger science performance, while excessive use and digital distraction are associated with weaker outcomes.

Students who do not use AI chatbots for schoolwork generally score higher than students who do. They are also more likely to report higher levels of help-seeking behaviours, suggesting that AI use is not a prerequisite for success.

Worryingly, more than one in four students report that their classmates are distracted by digital devices in most or every science lesson.

The education workforce crisis continues

In 2025, on average across OECD countries, around four out of ten students were in schools where principals reported that instruction was hindered to some extent or a lot by a lack of teachers, and a similar proportion were in schools where a lack of assisting staff was perceived to hinder instruction.

Furthermore, according to PISA 2025, shortages of education staff are more frequently reported in socio-economically disadvantaged schools than in advantaged schools and in public rather than private schools in most countries and economies. This raises serious concerns about the equitable distribution of human resources and supports EI’s call for all governments to Go Public! and fully fund public education systems.

The first report of PISA 2025 was released on 8 September 2026. Additional results on English as a foreign language will be published in April 2027 and a report on learning in the digital world will be released in May 2027.