'Wake up call': PISA figures show Scots pupils a year behind their English peers
The PISA figures paint a mixed picture for the attainment of Scottish pupils - and have been dubbed a ‘wake up call’ for the SNP
Performance in maths and reading has fallen among Scottish pupils, according to new figures that have been described as “wake-up call” for ministers.
Maths attainment has fallen again to a new post-pandemic low while performance in reading has dropped since 2022.
Since the last Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) was administered in 2022, the Scottish mean score declined by five points in reading and four points in maths.
However, pupils have shown an improvement in science - up eight points compared to 2022.
The over picture puts Scottish young people a year behind their English peers for maths and science.
Scotland has, however, dropped down from 12th in the world in 2000, to 28th for 2025.
This is the first international assessment since the Covid-19 pandemic and the only international tests in which Scotland now participates.
Since the previous PISA in 2022, the Scottish mean score has fallen by five points in reading and four in maths.
For science, that score has risen by eight points.
The changes are marginal, however, and so are not seen to be statistically significant.
Education secretary Mairi McAllan said the results show “real strengths” in Scottish education.
The government said Scots pupils had performed significantly above the OECD average in science, reading, computational problem-solving and environmental science.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which manages PISA, has pointed a widespread decline in reading scores across participating countries.
Comparatively, Scotland has rejected that trend, despite a decline in reading.
Both reading and maths have declined across the OECD as a whole and Ms McAllan called this a competitive international position.
Scottish Labour Education spokeswoman Katherine Sangster said the figures show there is “much more progress to be made”.
“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,” Ms Sangster added.
“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.”
Scotland has taken part in the PISA rankings, which assess 15-year-olds' knowledge and skills, every year since 2000.
The assessment asks about a variety of topics facing young people, such as their attendance and attitude to school.
PISA shows the attainment gap in Scotland has widened with the relationship between pupils' socio-economic background and performance weaker than in 2022 in science and maths.
It was significantly weaker in reading than in every previous PISA cycle.
Ms McAllan said: “PISA 2025 shows real strengths in Scottish education, as well as areas we're already working to improve.
“The Curriculum Improvement Cycle is the largest change to Scotland’s curriculum in over 10 years, which will be fully rolled out with the teaching profession by August 2028.
“These results demonstrate that Scotland’s education system is competitive by international standards, performing above the OECD average on four measures out of five.”
The minister acknowledged the results also “underline the need for change in certain areas”.
The official report produced by the OECD and sent to the Scottish government sent a stark warning, however.
“The longer-term decline in performance remains an important challenge,” it reads.
“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.”
Curriculum for Excellence was introduced in Scottish schools in 2010 and replaced the previous teaching guidance.
Since the introduction of the new guidance, the nation’s average PISA score for maths has dropped by 32.
In 2025, the mean reading score for Scottish pupils was 488, down from 493 in 2022.
The 2025 maths score was 467, compared to 471 in 2022.
For science, the 2025 mean rose to 491 from 483.
Scotland performed either slightly better than, or not significantly different from, Wales and Northern Ireland in most subjects, but was below England.
Compared internationally, Scottish reading scores in PISA 2025 were 27 points above the OECD average of 461.
In maths, scores were four points above the OECD average while science scores sat nine points above the OECD average.
Lindsay Paterson, emeritus professor of education policy at Edinburgh University, said the results can be equated to a drop in time in school.
The PISA score drop in maths, he said, is the equivalent to missing 19 months of schooling.
The dip in science would equate to 14 months off school while in reading, the drop is more like eight months of teaching time.
A new category of environment science was added for the 2025 scores, measuring how well pupils can set out the way science applies to environmental issues.
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Scotland achieved a mean score of 493 in environmental science, above the total OECD average of 480.
PISA 2025 also included an assessment on Learning in the Digital World (LDW), assessing pupils’ ability to use computational tools and practices to solve problems.
In this area, Scotland recorded a mean score of 515, above the OECD total average of 500.
Head teachers are also questioned and the results show that some 50.9 per cent of pupils attended schools where heads said standards suffered from a lack of teaching staff.
Some 64.3 per cent of pupils attended a school reported to be affected by a shortage of support staff.
A lack of digital resources was seen as a hindrance for around 30 per cent of pupils.
A total of 29.8 per cent of Scottish pupils said they used AI chatbots at least weekly to help them learn, lower than the 45.5 per cent across the OECD.
The number of Scottish pupils using AI for learning was also much lower than their peers internationally.
A third of pupils in Scotland reported never or almost never using AI for schoolwork included in PISA, compared to 14 per cent across the OECD.
Scotland lagged behind the international average for digital devices in classrooms.
However, pupils reported being satisfied with the support their receive from their teachers at school - but 43.5 per cent said school did not prepare them for adult life.
Nearly one in five - 38 per cent - of pupils reporting skipping at least one class or a whole day of school in the previous two weeks, while 50.3 per cent reported arriving late at least once.
Bullying was also an issue with 19.6 per cent reporting experiencing at least one form of bullying a few times a month or more.
Andrea Bradley, general secretary of Scotland’s largest teaching union the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), said the PISA report represents “only a fraction of the story”.
She praised the “hard work and professional commitment of teachers” working in “challenging circumstances”.
Ms Bradley added: “As the report highlights, Scotland’s pupils tend to be positively engaged in their learning, curious, and hold positive views about support from their families and teachers.
“Academically, young people in Scotland perform well in science and reading, and also in computational problem solving and environmental science.
“Performance in Maths was similar to the average level across the OECD.
“It is certainly true, however, that the report also identifies many substantial challenges that continue to face Scottish education.
“Significantly, the report confirms the continuation of the long-standing link between socio-economic background and academic performance.”
Ms Bradley listed the challenges of high levels of poverty, a lack of registered teachers in early years, and the poverty-related attainment gap as issues facing Scotland’s education system.
England was among the top 10 nations.
Among the 40 most developed countries, England ranks sixth for maths while Scotland is 21st.
In science, England came fifth and Scotland 16th, Prof Paterson said. For reading, Scotland is just outside the top ten in 11th place, while England is in joint sixth place.
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