Singapore and China lead the world in education scores for 15 year olds

 

Singapore and mainland China top global studentassessment as OECD scores hit record lows

Latest survey of 15-year-old students across 91 countries and economies included new computational problem-solving module for AI era

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Carol Yangin Beijing

Published: 7:00pm, 11 Sep 2026

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.

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.

The surveyed students from mainland China hailed from the country’s four eastern education powerhouses: the cities of Beijing and Shanghai, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

Mainland China is not an OECD member and did not take part in the OECD’s previous assessment because of coronavirus pandemic-related disruptions.

The 2025 edition expanded beyond reading, maths and science to debut a computational problem-solving module. It tested students’ ability to use programming tools, run experiments and design digital products.

Macau, a special administrative region of China, topped the new digital module with a score of 572. Singapore came second at 563, edging out mainland China’s 560 and well above the OECD average of 500.

Traditionally, Singapore and mainland China place a premium on strong school discipline, academic achievement and perseverance. Both are relatively strict in controlling digital distractions in the classroom compared with many Western systems.

Other top-performing education systems included Macau, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Estonia, Hong Kong and Britain.

In contrast, American students posted mixed results. They scored 490 in reading – down 14 points from 2022 – and 463 in maths, similar to the 465 tallied three years ago. US science scores rose modestly to 502, with computational skills at 513.

At a global level, the results looked bleak. Compared with 2022, average OECD scores slid across the three mainstay subjects to varying degrees.

“The overall performance of OECD countries declined, with the lowest average levels of performance ever observed,” the report said.

Across the OECD, one in five 15-year-old students is now a low performer in science, maths and reading, up from 16 per cent in 2022, according to the report.

Long-term data showed reading had declined since peaking around 2012, while maths fell sharply after 2018. Science performance has dipped more gradually over the past decade.

The report also highlighted a drop in skills critical for the artificial intelligence (AI) era, such as evaluating information, synthesising multiple sources and thinking critically.

And the proportion of “hasty readers” – students who rush through texts and give quick but incorrect answers – nearly doubled between 2018 and 2025.

Digital distraction in classrooms was identified as a major driver of the slump, with more than a quarter of OECD students reporting that peers were distracted by electronic devices during science lessons.

Meanwhile, the link between AI usage and academic performance was nuanced.

The 2025 data revealed that students who used AI for specific tasks such as drafting, summarising or research performed worse in science than non-users.

However, those who used AI for general learning and received AI literacy training at school scored slightly higher.

Mathias Cormann, OECD’s secretary general, said the data showed that “reversing declines in student performance is urgent”.

Technology and AI must be used purposefully rather than as “a substitute for attention, effort and understanding”, he added.

After a Thousand Years a Woman is selected as Archbishop of Canterbury

 

Sarah Mullally becomes first woman to lead

Church of England

By Mike Heuer

   

Sarah Mullally (C) departs St. Paul's Cathedral in London after becoming the 106th and first female Archbishop of Canterbury on Wednesday. Photo by Neil Hall/EPA

Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Sarah Mullally was confirmed as the first female and 106th archbishop of Canterbury during a formal ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral in London on Wednesday.

Mullally, 63, previously was Britain's top nursing officer and had been the Bishop of London since 2018. She said she has received significant support for her appointment as Archbishop.

"There's a sense of the weight of office that I feel, but I've also been very conscious of the huge support that I've had from people either writing [to me] or passing me in the streets," Mullally told the BBC.

She said raising awareness of misogyny will be among her goals in her new role.

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"It is fair to say that I have, both in my secular role as well as in the church, experienced misogyny at times," Mullally said.

"I'm conscious that being in this role, it's important for me to speak it because there are some that don't necessarily have the status or power of this role and feel more hesitant to do it," she added.

"I commit myself to making an environment where all people can flourish and which is safer for all," Mullally said.

Sounds like a woke mentality. Perhaps even an agenda to change the thousand year old church to make it more welcoming for gay and lesbian leaders.

St Paul wrote that women should not be in a position of authority in the church over men. He cited Eve's disastrous decision in the Garden and her influence over Adam in sharing that decision as reason for men to be responsible for women in spiritual matters. This doctrine has worked in the church for a millenium, but suddenly is not good enough. Watch for trouble between the African church and Canterbury. There will be much spiritual antagonism there,

Mullally's ascent to the Church of England's leading role ends the scandalous term of former Archbishop Justin Welby, who resigned in 2024 due to concerns that he did not do enough to stop a known abuser of boys and young men, who was associated with the church.

Welby was the first archbishop to resign from the Church of England due to a scandal in 1,000 years.

Mullally's rise to archbishop was not universally welcomed within the church.

Some African church elders were unhappy with her confirmation, and others have questioned her ability to protect church members.

Church of Nigeria Archbishop Henry Ndukuba said Mullally's new role as an archbishop runs counter to the "conviction of the majority of Anglicans who are unable to embrace female headship of the episcopate."

Echoing that sentiment, Rwanda Anglican Church Archbishop Laurent Mbanda issued a statement in which he said the "majority of the Anglican Communion still believes that the Bible requires a male-only episcopacy."

Mullally acknowledged such concerns and said she understands that some will find it problematic for a woman to lead the Church of England.

"What I hope to do is to be able to provide a space where I can offer hospitality to people, where I can listen to what their concerns are and, in a sense, find some way in which we can at least have a partnership together in that way," she said.

Mullally acknowledged other concerns that include her support for same-sex marriage and her ability to safeguard church members following the scandal that forced Welby to resign.

The Church of England also recently dismissed a complaint that accused Mullally of protecting an alleged abuser while she was the bishop of London by sharing emails detailing abuse allegations against that person.

Former London Diocese safeguarding adviser Michell Burns has accused the diocese of placing a greater importance on protecting its reputation than addressing the potential abuse of victims.