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PISA 2015 results: improving educational policies and outcomes

OECD’s triennial international survey, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. In PISA 2015, the survey was carried out for the first time in all 28 EU Member States in the same year, among 72 countries and economies worldwide.

PISA evaluates the quality, equity, and efficiency of school systems and student outcomes, by assessing over half a million students worldwide. The 2015 survey had a special focus on science performance but also assessed students’ skills in mathematics, reading, collaborative problem solving and financial literacy.

The report is presented in two parts. Volume I deals with issues of excellence and equity in education, students’ performance in science, and attitudes towards science learning. Volume II deals with policies and practices for successful schools, examining the connection of educational resources, learning environments and student selection systems with student performance.

Some of the main findings of PISA 2015 for the EU are the following:

  • In most EU countries, it was found that more than 15% of 15-year-olds are not able to tackle tasks that require at least a minimal ability and disposition to think autonomously in one of the tested domains. Boosting basic skills will be one focus of the review of the Key Competences Framework that the European Commission will launch in 2017.
  • Gender differences are not as strong as before: the gender gap in the shares of low achievers in mathematics and science continues to be negligible, and the gender gap in reading has gone down significantly.
  • Participation in pre-primary schooling is highly correlated with higher performance among 15-year-olds. Therefore, it is vital that EU Member States provide comprehensive, high quality early childhood education and care, easily available to all groups of their population.

Read more in the publication “PISA 2015: EU performance and initial conclusions regarding education policies in Europe” and on the OECD’s PISA website.

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Policy development