Singapore and mainland China top global student assessment as OECD scores hit record low
Singaporean and Chinese students led the world in educational performance in 2025, according to an assessment by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, as average scores across OECD countries reached a record low. The 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment comprised 760,000 15-year-old
Singaporean and Chinese students led the world in educational performance in 2025, according to an assessment by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, as average scores across OECD countries reached a record low.
The 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment comprised 760,000 15-year-old students across 91 countries and economies, including OECD members and partners.
This edition of the survey was the largest since the OECD first administered the triennial assessment in 2000.
In the report that OECD released on Tuesday, Singapore outpaced mainland China in reading with 535 points against China’s 527.
The city state also posted strong results in mathematics and science with 563 and 560 points, respectively – second only to China.
02:25
China’s ‘sky school bus’ lifts pupils to mountain-top classrooms and a brighter future
Students from mainland China led globally in maths with 612 points and science with 597 points, vastly outperforming the OECD averages of 463 and 482 points, respectively.