The PISA 2022 results show that the share of students who are not able to reach a minimum competence benchmark has largely increased in mathematics and reading and more moderately in science in most countries. Furthermore, socioeconomic background continues to be a strong predictor of student performance, while COVID-19 has likely played a role in the performance drop observed between 2018 and 2022.

The current situation challenges both the equity and the excellence dimension of the EU education systems and may affect future EU competitiveness.

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• Read online here: The twin challenge of equity and excellence in basic skills in the EU