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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Sally Weale, Carmen Aguilar García, Steven Morris and Severin Carrell

UK pupils’ science and maths scores lowest since 2006 in international tests

Two secondary school pupils blurred in background with test tube and balloon experiment in foreground
Attainment in science, which has been in long-term decline, was down five points on the last Pisa round in 2018. Photograph: Peter Lopeman/Alamy

The UK has suffered a sharp decline in its performance in the latest round of influential international academic tests, wiping out recent progress, as the widespread disruption caused by Covid continued to take its toll on education.

The OECD’s programme for international student assessment (Pisa), which compares educational attainment among 15-year-olds around the world, showed UK schoolchildren achieved their lowest scores in mathematics and science since 2006 – the first year of comparable data.

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