Mathematics at 15: in 21 of 33 European countries 2022 was the worst year of the test
These are countries that took the international test at least four times. Furthest below their best year: Albania (−69) and Finland (−64). The other 12 had their worst year earlier.
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The OECD international test checks 15-year-olds on one scale every three or four years. In 2022, the first after the pandemic, mathematics in most European countries was lower than in any earlier year, including countries once held up as models.
Bars: how many points the 2022 result is below the country's best result in any test year.
- Albania: mathematics at 15 points
2018: 437; 2022: 368
- Finland: mathematics at 15 points
2006: 548; 2022: 484
- Iceland: mathematics at 15 points
2003: 515; 2022: 459
- Netherlands: mathematics at 15 points
2003: 538; 2022: 493
- Belgium: mathematics at 15 points
2003: 529; 2022: 489
- Germany: mathematics at 15 points
2012: 514; 2022: 475
OECD PISA 2003–2022: mean mathematics score (the scale is comparable from 2003). European countries in the UN grouping that took the test at least four times including 2022: 33.
Worst year by mean score; some differences from the earlier minimum are within the test error. The 2021 round moved to 2022 because of the pandemic. The data do not name a cause: in several countries the decline began earlier.
A question for this picture
And adults? Reading got worse in many countries; numeracy did not.