PISA 2025 Report Shows Record Lows in Reading and Mathematics for Spain

Global evaluation and performance trends

The OECD released the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) on 8 September 2026, evaluating approximately 760,000 15-year-old students across 91 countries and territories. East Asian education systems led the global rankings, with Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang taking the top positions in science and mathematics, while Singapore achieved the highest score in reading. Macau, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea also ranked near the top. Across the broader dataset, OECD education specialist Éric Charbonnier noted that reading and mathematics scores showed marked decreases, while science remained relatively stable. Over the last decade, reading scores fell by 28 points across OECD member countries and by 16 points in non-OECD participants. The assessment linked these declines to increased screen use, reduced leisure reading among adolescents, and persistent disruptions following the pandemic.

The results in science remain roughly stable, but there is a drop of more than 20 points in reading and mathematics.

Spain records steep declines across all subjects

Spanish students recorded their lowest scores in the history of the assessment across reading, mathematics, and science. In reading, Spain scored 451 points, falling 23 points below its 2022 score of 474 and 10 points below its previous low of 461 in 2006. In mathematics, Spain achieved 457 points, representing a drop of 16 points since 2022, while science fell by 8 points to 477. The OECD equates a 20-point shift to roughly one academic year of learning, placing Spanish students more than a full year behind their 2022 reading level and half a year behind the OECD average of 461. Spain also trailed the European Union averages of 459 in reading, 463 in mathematics, and 481 in science.

Regional divergences and data reliability warnings

The assessment examined nearly 30,000 students across 956 schools in Spain, revealing pronounced disparities between autonomous communities. Asturias led the country in reading with 471 points, followed by Madrid with 469 and Castilla y León with 466, whereas the Basque Country placed lowest among autonomous communities at 419 points. Madrid also led in mathematics with 477 points and science with 495 points. The OECD excluded Catalonia from its international comparison dataset after the region excluded 23.2% of its students with special learning needs from testing, far exceeding the 5% permitted ceiling. The OECD and Spain's Ministry of Education also attached caution notes to data from Murcia, which recorded a 12.72% exclusion rate, warning of potential upward bias in its reported results.

Political dispute over the LOMLOE curriculum

The release of the report prompted political debate across Spain, as the 2025 cycle marked the first assessment of cohorts educated under the LOMLOE education law enacted in late 2020. Regional education councillor for Aragon Carmen Susín attributed the downturn to national education reforms, arguing that relaxed academic standards damaged performance.

The devastating results of the 2025 PISA Report in Aragon confirm the unmitigated failure of an ideological law that destroys academic excellence.

Minister of Education Milagros Tolón rejected claims that the LOMLOE caused the decline, pointing instead to digital screen habits and fast-paced media consumption among teenagers. Tolón stated that the ministry will review regional variations during the next sectorial education conference, while EsadeEcPol researcher Lucas Gortazar observed that improper use of artificial intelligence as an educational shortcut may have reduced sustained attention spans among students.

It may be related to screen habits, rushed reading, and short messages that are imposed on teenagers on social networks.