Science (primary focus)

• Singapore outperformed all other participating countries and economies in science.
• On average across OECD countries, 79% of students performed at or above Level 2 in science, the baseline level of proficiency.
• On average across OECD countries, boys scored slightly higher than girls in science.
• Mean performance in science improved significantly between 2006 and 2015 in Colombia, Macao (China), Norway, Portugal, Qatar, and Romania.
• A quarter of students envisioned themselves working later on in a science-related career.
• Girls and boys were almost equally likely to expect to work in a science-related career, but they had different interests and different ideas about what those careers might be.
• In general, boys participated more frequently in science-related activities and had more confidence in their abilities in science than girls.

Reading

• Singapore, Hong Kong (China), Canada and Finland were the highest-performing countries and economies in reading.
• Nearly one in ten students in OECD countries was a top performer in reading, but two in ten students had not attained the baseline level of proficiency in the subject.
• Few countries have seen consistent improvements in reading performance since PISA 2000.
• Albania, Estonia, Georgia, Ireland, Macao (China), Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Slovenia, and Spain were able to simultaneously increase the share of top performers and reduce the share of low achievers in reading.
• The gender gap in reading narrowed somewhat between 2009 and 2015.

Mathematics

• Four countries/economies in Asia outperform all other countries/economies in mathematics: Singapore, Hong Kong (China), Macao (China) and Chinese Taipei.
• Around one in ten students in OECD countries was a top performer in mathematics, on average; but in Singapore, more than one in three students were top performers in the subject.
• Boys tended to score higher than girls in mathematics, but in nine countries and economies, girls outperformed boys.

Financial Literacy

• On average across the 13 OECD countries and economies that participated in the PISA financial literacy assessment, 10% of students can analyse complex financial products and solve non-routine financial problems, while 15% can, at best, make simple decisions about everyday spending, and recognise the purpose of everyday financial documents, such as an invoice.
• While students who do well in financial literacy are likely to perform well in the PISA reading and mathematics assessment too, on average around 38% of the financial literacy score reflects factors that are not captured by the PISA reading and mathematics assessments, and are thus unique to financial skills.
• In 17 out of the 18 participating countries and economies, boys and girls show similar skills in financial literacy. However, among students with comparable performance in mathematics and reading, boys perform better than girls in financial literacy in 11 out of 18 countries and economies.

Collaborative Problem Solving

• Singapore and Japan outperform all other participating countries in collaborative problem solving.
• Most of the variation in student performance is observed within schools.
• Girls significantly outperform boys in every country and economy that participated in the collaborative problem-solving assessment.
• A majority of 15-year-olds in almost all PISA–participating countries and economies reported positive attitudes towards co-operating with others.
• Boys and girls differ in what they value when it comes to collaborating with others.
• The relationships between students’ attitudes towards collaboration and their performance in collaborative problem solving are remarkably consistent across countries and economies.

Others

• Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Hong Kong (China) and Macao (China) achieved high performance and high equity in education opportunities.
• Access to schooling was nearly universal in most OECD countries
• Socio-economic status was associated with significant differences in performance in most countries and economies that participated in PISA.
• Many students are very anxious about school work and tests and the analysis reveals this is not related to the number of school hours or the frequency of tests but with how supportive they feel their teachers and schools to be.
• Students in schools where life satisfaction is above the national average reported a higher level of support from their teacher than students in schools where life satisfaction is below average.