Scotland pupils continue to lag English counterparts in science, maths and reading

The educational performance of Scottish teenagers remains “significantly below” historic levels, an international assessment has found.

The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) found no significant change across science, maths and reading since the last survey – but this was after several cycles of declining performance.

They survey, which looks at the performance of 15-year-olds around the globe, also found Scottish pupils continue to underperform their counterparts in England.

Education secretary Mairi McAllan said the results showed “real strengths” in the education system, but acknowledged they also “underline the need for change in certain areas”.

Scottish Labour has said that Scottish pupils lag English ones should be a “wake-up call”, while the Lib Dems described the report as “brutal reading”.

Pisa is the largest international comparative survey of 15-year-old students, put together by the OECD. It is published every three years.

Scottish pupils outperform the international average, achieving a score of 488 in reading, 491 in science and 467 in maths.

The OECD average is 463 for reading, 484 for science and 465 for maths.

But English teens performed the best out of all UK nations, obtaining scores of 497, 516 and 492 in reading, science and maths, respectively.

However, the Pisa report also found some “areas of strength” – pointing to high proficiency levels in computational problem solving and environmental science.

The report said: “Pisa 2025 presents a mixed picture, but with a number of important positive findings.

“The longer-term decline in performance remains an important challenge. Scotland’s science, mathematics and reading performance all remain significantly below that achieved in a number of earlier Pisa cycles, and substantial proportions of pupils are performing below baseline proficiency, particularly in mathematics.

“However, there was no statistically significant change in Scotland’s mean performance in science, mathematics or reading between 2022 and 2025. The results are consistent with a stabilisation in mean performance following the longer-term decline, rather than a return to previous levels.”

It also found some improvements in weakening the link between socio-economic backgrounds and performance. Pupils from more advantaged backgrounds continue to outperform poorer pupils, but the gap had closed since the 2022 Pisa report.

McAllan said: “These results demonstrate that Scotland’s education system is competitive by international standards, performing above the OECD average on four measures out of five.

“Scotland has stabilised its international performance, which is very welcome, alongside the significant weakening in the relationship between learners’ socio-economic background and performance, particularly in reading… While recognising the positives, these results also underline the need for change in certain areas – change that I intend to lead in the coming period to ensure excellence and equity for all Scotland’s young people.”

Labour’s education spokesperson Katherine Sangster accused ministers of failing to take responsibility for the declining educational standards.

She said: “For Scottish young people to be lagging so far behind their English counterparts – over a year behind – should be a wake-up call to the SNP. This is not new – SNP ministers have had countless warnings and yet nothing has changed. 

“Things have flatlined since 2022’s historically poor results and we are alarmingly far from where we were in before the SNP came to power, when Scotland was ahead of our neighbours in reading and maths.

“In spite of these challenges the SNP has put forward no plans for catch up, no ambition for our young people, and no ideas for curriculum reform. On top of that, they take no responsibility.”

Scottish Lib Dem education spokesperson Duncan Dunlop said: “Once the best in the world, Scottish education just isn't what it used to be. Under the SNP, our education system has tumbled down the rankings, lagging behind England on every measure of performance. This report makes for brutal reading.”