The 2025 PISA Results
How are our 15-year-old kids doing at school? Numberwang 7
(Research shows more 15-year-old students are bored with learning worldwide. Graphs: PISA)
I want to start out by saying that for the sake of consistency, in this Numberwang I am going to use the word "maths" instead of "math," even though I was raised using the latter. I hate it.
The Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, is an international study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) every three years to measure how well 15-year-old students can apply what they have learned at school in reading, mathematics, and science. On September 8, the OECD released its results for 2025, and they were not encouraging: reading and mathematics skills have slumped worldwide. Reasons reported in the media include the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, declining parental involvement, and rising screen times among pupils.
When the Hong Kong government announced its results, it used a headline which was certainly an attempt at spinning the story:
Oof. For a government that likes to say we're the top of this and the hub for that, this is not an encouraging sign at all. At least the SCMP had a more honest assessment:
The 2025 results, announced by the University of Hong Kong's education faculty, showed the city's students ranked 17th for science, with a mean score of 496, down from 7th place in 2022.
Hong Kong ranked 7th in maths after scoring 522, down from 4th place in 2022.
In terms of mother-tongue reading literacy, Hong Kong's score dropped to 480, bringing it down from 11th place in 2022 to 15th.
Compared with 2022, Hong Kong tied with Latvia for the largest decline in science, dropping 25 points.
Hong Kong almost made it into the top 10 for biggest decline in reading, falling 20 points, and was tied for the sixth-biggest decline in mathematics, dropping 19 points. However, PISA did say that Hong Kong's maths performance was over 30 points above expectations based on its science performance.
A combined 64-point decline leaves Hong Kong tied for the seventh biggest decline, a broad-based decline in all three subjects.
PISA's own assessment of Hong Kong pulls no punches:
• When considering a longer period of time, 2025 results are the lowest ever measured by PISA in Hong Kong in all three subjects, and reinforce a negative trend that began after 2012.
• Over the most recent period (2022 to 2025), the gap between the highest-scoring students (10% with the highest scores) and the weakest students (10% with the lowest scores) did not change significantly in mathematics and reading, while it widened in science.
• Compared to 2015 the proportion of low-performing students (scoring below proficiency Level 2) increased by eight percentage points in mathematics; by 13 percentage points in reading; and by 12 percentage points in science.
So the results for Hong Kong are not great compared to past years. But how do those results compare with other Asian economies that also want to be considered as technology and AI hubs? I've created a chart that compares the scores with the usual suspects:
China is not on this list because PISA tested students only in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. If those results were representative of the entire country they would be ranked the highest. Regardless, all the other places are eating Hong Kong for lunch. Sure, Hong Kong's maths score is similar to South Korea and Japan, but reading and science scores are far below par for an East Asian economy. Hong Kong went from first of the five economies in Reading to dead last. Singapore and Taiwan appear to have had consistent or improving scores from year to year since 2012, and these places coincidentally handled the Covid-19 pandemic the best.
So, is there a way for Hong Kong to reverse the trend? The Education Bureau did recently say that it would revamp their science and maths curricula.
www.scmp.com/news/hong-ko...
But this measure only targets students' final years of secondary school rather than the first three years, and only takes effect in 2029. And let's be blunt here, if the Hong Kong government is going all-in on AI, there's no chance. AI is going to rot their brains. For that reason alone, it will definitely be interesting when the next set of PISA scores from the next assessment is released in 2031, as PISA switches to a four-year cycle instead of three. Let's go, tiger moms!!
Other Observations
The test scores only tell part of the story. PISA also asked students about how they learn, what their schools are like, and the support they receive -- and Hong Kong's answers reveal some striking contrasts.
Gender gap: Girls outscore boys by 30 points in reading, by 1 point in science, while boys outscore girls in maths by 13 points, according to the OECD average. In Hong Kong, the gender gaps are:
Reading: Girls +12 (G:486 vs. B:474)
Science: Boys +16 (G:487 vs. B:503)
Mathematics: Boys +17 (G:513 vs. B:530)
Student attitudes: Despite an above average academic performance, Hong Kong students reported somewhat lower perseverance, curiosity, and adaptability than the OECD average, while showing a greater willingness to seek help. Just 44% showed what the OECD calls "a growth mindset", well below the 69% OECD average.
Learning environment: Hong Kong students reported a considerably better disciplinary climate and much less truancy than the OECD average. Reported bullying was broadly in line with the OECD average. However, students had a notably weaker sense of belonging at school and were much less likely to express positive views about social mobility. Their views on the value of learning at school were roughly in line with the OECD average, but significantly lower than in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and even lower than in the United States.
Digitalization and AI: Hong Kong students were more likely than their OECD peers to use AI regularly, and to have been taught how to assess AI-generated information. Hong Kong schools also reported stronger-than-average capacity to use digital devices for teaching. However, phone restrictions are widespread in Hong Kong, with 85% of students attending schools where mobile phones are not allowed, compared with the OECD average of 49.5%. In schools with clear mobile phone policies, students are less likely to be distracted by digital devices.
Student support: Hong Kong students have shockingly low family support. Among participating countries and economies, Hong Kong had the seventh-lowest family-support index (Macau had the lowest). Students, however, reported greater teacher support, while Hong Kong schools were much more likely than the OECD average to offer peer-to-peer tutoring. An above-average share of Hong Kong students also attended schools reporting no shortages of educational materials.
Performance in environmental science: Hong Kong reported above-average performance in environmental science. ◼️
Sample Problems
For laughs, are you smarter than a 15-year-old student? Here are a few questions from past PISA assessments that are considered the hardest (i.e. Levels 5 or 6), with answers at the end of this blog.
Reading (Level 5, 2018):
Refer to the Review of "Collapse" below. Click on the choices in the table to answer the question.
Jared Diamond’s new book, Collapse, is a clear warning about the consequences of damaging our environment. In the book, the author describes several civilizations that collapsed because of the choices they made and their impact on the environment. One of the most disturbing examples in the book is Rapa Nui.
According to the author, Rapa Nui was settled by Polynesians sometime after 700 CE. They developed a thriving society of, perhaps, 15,000 people. They carved the moai, the famous statues, and used the natural resources available to them to move these huge moai to different locations around the island. When the first Europeans landed on Rapa Nui in 1722, the moai were still there, but the trees were gone. The population was down to a few thousand people who were struggling to survive. Mr. Diamond writes that the people of Rapa Nui cleared the land for farming and other purposes and that they over-hunted the numerous species of sea and land birds that had lived on the island. He speculates that the dwindling natural resources led to civil wars and the collapse of Rapa Nui’s society.
The lesson of this wonderful but frightening book is that in the past, humans made the choice to destroy their environment by cutting down all the trees and hunting animal species to extinction. Optimistically, the author points out, we can choose not to make the same mistakes today. The book is written well and deserves to be read by anyone who is concerned about the environment.
Listed below are statements from the Review of Collapse. Are these statements facts or opinions? Choose either Fact or Opinion for each statement.
In the book, the author describes several civilizations that collapsed because of the choices they made and their impact on the environment.
Fact
Opinion
One of the most disturbing examples in the book is Rapa Nui.
Fact
Opinion
They carved the moai, the famous statues, and used the natural resources available to them to move these huge moai to different locations around the island.
Fact
Opinion
When the first Europeans landed on Easter Island in 1722, the moai were still there, but the trees were gone.
Fact
Opinion
The book is written well and deserves to be read by anyone who is concerned about the environment.
Fact
Opinion
Mathematics (Level 6, 2022): The following headline about the Zedland basketball team appeared in a local newspaper.
Given the average margin of victory for the season, is it possible that the team never actually won a game by 19 points?
⃝ Yes ⃝ No Explain your answer: ______________________________________________________________
Science (Level 5, 2025): Offshore Wind Turbine Farm
A coastal town is considering constructing an offshore wind turbine farm to generate electricity.
Wind causes the blades on a wind turbine to turn, which generates electricity. The electricity is added to the electricity network onshore.
Some people in the town are in favour of the project. Other people are concerned that the project will have a negative impact on the local environment.
Explain one way in which the environment benefits when electricity is generated using wind instead of fossil fuels.
Reading: Fact, Opinion, Fact, Fact, Opinion.
Mathematics: Yes, an example would be the team playing just two games in a season and winning the first game by 18 points, and the second game by 20 points.
Science: Wind energy produces electricity without burning fossil fuels; carbon dioxide is not released during the generation of electricity, which reduces emissions and air pollution.
