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Germany's 15-Year-Olds Post Lowest PISA Results Since 2000
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In Short: German students have achieved their lowest scores in mathematics, reading, and science since the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) began 25 years ago, sparking calls for educational reforms.
Germany's 15-year-olds have posted their lowest scores in mathematics, reading, and science since the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) began 25 years ago, according to the latest PISA study, which involves testing 15-year-olds on basic skills in more than 90 countries worldwide.
The poor results have sparked calls for reforms, with Education Minister Karin Prien calling the results 'worrying.' The trend is particularly pronounced in mathematics, where German pupils scored 464 PISA points in 2025, down from more than 500 in 2015.
The gap between socially privileged and disadvantaged children is also widening, with around one in three 15-year-olds failing to reach the basic proficiency level in reading or mathematics, and roughly one in four falling below that level in science.
The PISA study examines whether 15-year-olds can apply what they know to practical problems, such as understanding a lengthy email, comparing prices, or interpreting information in a graph. The results have shown a clear downward trend since 2015, with performance generally declining in all three subjects.
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- Greiff added that the latest results "show that the findings of the most recent studies were not a short-term phenomenon, but that we are seeing a clear downward trend".
Sources
- The Local Germanylink