PISA results out today highlight the ongoing challenge of raising standards in Wales’ schools.
- PISA results out today highlight the ongoing challenge of raising standards in Wales’ schools.
- However, results show Welsh schools are comparatively effective at supporting the most disadvantaged learners.
- Reading and science has remained broadly stable since 2022, providing a platform to improve.
- The Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language has reassured teachers and leaders that there will be no knee-jerk response to the results and that plans are in place to support schools to raise standards.
Today’s PISA results are not where anyone in education would want them to be and reinforce the Welsh Government’s commitment to better supporting schools to raise standards, according to the Education Minister.
The results show a modest improvement in Wales’ science score and highlight our strengths at supporting disadvantaged learners, but demonstrate the need to push forward with plans to develop literacy and numeracy.
Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language Anna Brychan said:
Let me be clear, these results are not where we want them to be. But in many ways, they reinforce what we knew already and highlight our need to improve standards of reading and maths, as a priority. We must also do more to ensure our highest-achieving learners reach their full potential.
“I am encouraged that our most disadvantaged learners compare well internationally, and we are indebted to our teaching profession for supporting learners to achieve regardless of background. But it is clear that we have much more work to do.
“PISA results are not the only measure of performance and standards in our schools need to be understood in the round. But that does not mean that we should ignore them, either – and we take our performance in international studies incredibly seriously.
“PISA highlights longstanding issues that require a considered and joined-up response. This is not the fault of schools or teachers and we have inherited an education system that lacks clarity, coherence and a sure sense of direction. These are the things we have set out to address.
What matters now is what happens next and delivering on our promise to better support the education system to raise standards. I will soon be launching our Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Plan that represents an important first step in the development of an equitable education system that works for all.
“It will set out clearly our expectations for action, make visible roles and responsibilities and bring people and organisations together in ways that allow them to get the very best from one another. Our efforts to raise standards require a holistic approach and we all have an important part to play.
“We are a new government with new ambition and make no apologies for setting the bar high. But raising standards is a team effort that will require the expertise, energy and determination of all with an interest in education in Wales.”
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international study run by the OECD every four years. PISA assesses how effectively 15-year-olds can apply their knowledge and skills in reading, mathematics and science to real-world problems, rather than testing mastery of a specific curriculum. Around 3,400 Welsh learners took part in September and October2025.
