Results stabilise but more work to do

Results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025 indicate achievement is stabilising after years of decline but more needs to be done to lift performance, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.

New Zealand students remain above the OECD average across all three subjects, ranking ninth in reading, tenth in science, and 16th in mathematics. These results are broadly similar to PISA 2022.

Positively, New Zealand students were amongst the highest performers in computational problem-solving, which was part of the 2025 PISA focus area, Learning in the Digital World.

New Zealand students were also more positive about school in 2025 than they were in 2022, with more saying they learned useful things and felt prepared for adult life.

Compared with 2022, PISA 2025 shows:

The achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students narrowed in all three subjects.
The number of students who reported applying additional effort when work becomes challenging increased by 6.9 percent
Students placed greater value on school and were more likely to say they are learning useful skills for work and life.

“It is encouraging to see students value what they are learning and build the skills they need for a changing world,” Ms Stanford said.

While these PISA results are encouraging, some caution should be applied when interpreting the data.  

New Zealand did not meet the OECD participation requirements for PISA 2025. Only 52 percent of selected schools and 76 percent of selected students took part. This means the results may look more positive than they would in a fully representative sample and need to be treated with care.

PISA and other similar longitudinal international studies provide valuable insights into how our education system is performing and changing over time.

Ms Stanford said taking part in international studies is essential.

“Together with our national data, these studies help us understand the strengths of our education system and where we need to improve.”

This is why the Government recently passed legislation that requires selected schools to participate in PISA and other international monitoring tools. 

“Greater use of data to drive consistent improvement is one of my six education priorities. We are focused on using data from studies such as PISA to make decisions to raise student achievement”

 

PISA Science
2000
2003
2006
2009
2012
2015
2018
2022
2025

New Zealand 
 –
–
530
532
516
513
508
504
509

OECD Mean
 –
 –
495
498
498
491
489
485
482

 

PISA Reading
2000
2003
2006
2009
2012
2015
2018
2022
2025

New Zealand 
529
522
521
521
512
509
506
501
497

OECD Mean
494
494
485
491
493
490
487
476
461

 PISA Maths
 
2003
2006
2009
2012
2015
2018
2022
2025

New Zealand 
 –
523
522
519
500
495
494
479
480

OECD Mean
 –
499
490
492
490
487
489
472
463