Data from the Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA 2025, point to a worrying decline in results across several of Europe’s best-known education systems. The assessment tests 15-year-olds’ ability to apply their knowledge of reading, mathematics and science in everyday situations.
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According to The Guardian, France, Germany and the Netherlands recorded their lowest-ever results. A sharp decline was also observed in Finland, which has been regarded for decades as having one of the world’s most successful education models. The United Kingdom, meanwhile, has largely managed to avoid this trend.
In France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, the data show that approximately one in three 15-year-old students fails to reach the basic level of functional skills in mathematics and reading. Experts believe that the pandemic and shortcomings in the learning process during that period accelerated the decline, although the causes of the problem are older and more deep-rooted.
The list of factors includes persistent teacher shortages, frequent curriculum revisions that have neglected basic skills, social inequalities and the growing segregation of students based on socioeconomic background. Excessive use of smartphones and social media is also a concern and, according to experts, has weakened concentration and led to in-depth reading being replaced by the rapid consumption of material on screens. At the same time, students’ motivation to learn has also fallen significantly.
