PISA 2025: Australian students outperform OECD average in world’s largest learning assessment

Conducted every 3 years since 2000, PISA assesses 15-year-old students’ ability to apply their science, reading and mathematics knowledge and skills to solve real-life problems.

PISA is delivered in Australia by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) on behalf of the Australian Government and all state and territory education authorities. ACER is also the OECD’s international contractor for PISA, responsible for the Programme’s design and implementation globally.

The report found that despite small declines in reading and mathematics, and stable results in science, students’ performance across the three core assessment domains remains comparatively strong internationally.

In science, achievement remained broadly stable since 2015, with Australian students achieving a mean score of 509 points, significantly higher than the OECD average of 482 points.

In reading, Australian students achieved a mean score of 491 points, significantly higher than the OECD average of 461 points. While reading performance declined by 7 points since 2022 and 37 points since 2000, Australian students continue to outperform many of their international peers.

In mathematics, Australian students achieved a mean score of 478 points, above the OECD average of 463 points. Mathematics recorded the largest long-term decline of the three core domains, with performance declining by 46 points since PISA first began in 2003, and 9 points since 2022.

Out of all the assessment domains, Australian students scored the strongest in the innovative domain Learning in the Digital World, which measured students’ ability to learn in technology-rich environments. Students achieved a score of 532 points compared with the OECD average of 500 points. More than 75% of Australian students attained the National Proficient Standard, highlighting Australia’s relative strength in digital-age learning and problem-solving.

Overall, Australia's international position has remained comparatively strong despite broader declines in student achievement. Australia maintained its ranking of 10th in science, moved from 17th to 16th in mathematics, and moved from 12th to 10th in reading. These figures only include countries that took part in 2022 and 2025 PISA programs.

While Australia continues to perform above the OECD average across all assessed domains, long-term declines in science, reading and mathematics highlight the importance of sustained attention to student achievement and educational equity.

Other key results:

• Australian students met the National Proficient Standard at rates of 60% in science, 55% in reading and 49% in mathematics.
• Achievement patterns differed across domains, with mathematics recording the highest proportion of low-performing students (29%) and the lowest proportion of high-performing students (10%), highlighting ongoing challenges in mathematics performance in Australia.
• Achievement varied across states and territories, with the ACT recording the highest results nationally across science, reading, mathematics, and Learning in the Digital World.
• Independent schools recorded the highest average achievement across science, reading and mathematics, with students attending independent schools also more likely to attain the National Proficient Standard.

More than 760,000 students from 91 countries participated in PISA 2025, representing 33 million students, including a representative sample of 14,658 Australian students from 766 schools.

Since 2003, PISA has carried out nine assessments measuring students’ proficiency across mathematics, reading and science.

Quotes attributable to Dr Eveline Gebhardt, Head of Division, Assessment Development, Implementation and Reporting:

‘Australia remains a high-performing education system, performing above the OECD average in science, reading, mathematics, and learning in the digital world.’

‘While long-term declines remain a challenge, Australia's international standing remains comparatively strong, with students continuing to outperform many of their international peers.’

‘Australian students continue to achieve above the OECD average in the knowledge and skills essential for future learning, employment, and participation in society.’

Further reading

• PISA website 
• PISA in Brief Australia 2025: Student performance 
• PISA 2025: Reporting Australia’s results. Volume I: Student performance
• PISA 2025: A first look at student and school characteristics for Australia

About the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

For more than 95 years, ACER has been driven by a single purpose – to improve learning for all.

ACER began as a small team of researchers determined to bring rigour and evidence to education and assessment and has grown into a globally recognised not-for-profit organisation. ACER combines world-class assessment and research to help learners, educators and systems in more than 150 countries understand what works in education, and why.

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