Chinese students lead global rankings in 2025 PISA

Students from the Chinese mainland outperformed their peers globally in the 2025 Program for International Student Assessment, topping the science and mathematics rankings while coming second in reading, according to results released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Chinese mainland cohort, from Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, scored 597 points in science and 612 points in mathematics, both the highest among the 91 participating countries and economies. In reading, they scored 527 points, behind only Singapore's 535 points.

The assessment, administered every three years since 2000, evaluates the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students nearing the end of compulsory education. The 2025 edition involved more than 760,000 students, representing about 33 million 15-year-olds worldwide.

While Chinese students excelled, the overall performance of OECD countries declined to the lowest levels ever recorded across all three core domains.

Between 2015 and 2025, average reading scores across OECD countries fell by 28 points — equivalent to about one and a half years of learning — while mathematics scores dropped by 22 points, or just over one year of learning. Science scores declined by seven points over the same period, though they remained relatively stable between 2022 and 2025.

The share of low performers across all three subjects rose to 20 percent in OECD countries, up from 16 percent in 2022.

"The most successful education systems focus on fewer areas in greater depth, invest in teachers, engage parents and provide targeted support for the students and schools that need it the most," OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said.

The 2025 assessment also examined the relationship between artificial intelligence use and student performance, yielding nuanced findings.

Students who reported using AI for specific schoolwork tasks — such as summarizing texts, drafting writing or conducting research — scored on average about 20 points lower in science than non-users, equivalent to roughly one year of schooling, the OECD found. Among OECD countries, 46 percent of students said they used AI chatbots weekly or more to help them learn.

However, students who used AI for general purposes — as a learning aid rather than a shortcut for task completion — performed at levels similar to non-users. Those who received school instruction on how to assess the quality of AI-generated information tended to score slightly higher in science.

"Technology and AI can strengthen learning and help prepare young people for the future, but only when used purposefully and not as a substitute for attention, effort and understanding," Cormann said.

The OECD also warned that digital distraction in classrooms remains a concern. More than one in four students said that classmates were distracted by digital devices in most or every science lesson.