Scotland's performance in reading among 15-year-olds has declined in the latest international assessment, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) study, which evaluates the knowledge and skills of over 760,000 15-year-olds across 91 countries, showed Scotland's reading score at 488. This marks a decrease from 493 in the 2022 assessment and a more significant drop from 504 in 2018 and 526 in 2000.
Despite the decline, Scotland's reading score remains above the OECD average of 463 points. The country's performance also surpasses Wales (459) and Northern Ireland (482), although it falls behind England, which saw its score improve to 497.
In mathematics, Scotland's score was 467, a slight decrease from 471 in 2022 and just above the OECD average of 465. This continues a trend of worsening performance in maths, with scores of 489 in 2018 and 491 in 2015. Scotland's mathematics performance is behind England (492) and Northern Ireland (473) but ahead of Wales (456).
However, performance in science showed an improvement in Scottish high schools. Scotland has participated in every cycle of the Pisa study since 2000. For the 2025 cycle, 115 schools and colleges and 3,066 pupils across Scotland are participating.
The Scottish government stated that the observed changes in results between the two studies were not statistically significant. In response to literacy challenges, intensive catch-up classes are being implemented for pupils entering high school who lack basic literacy skills.