Teen Reading Hits Worst Level This Century
Teen Reading Hits Worst Level This Century
The News
Fifteen-year-olds across the developed world are reading at the worst levels recorded this century, according to the OECD's 2025 PISA results published Sept. 8.
Reading scores across the 38 OECD countries fell 28 points between 2015 and 2025, math fell 22 points and science fell seven, the study found.
The report also delivered an early verdict on AI in the classroom: students who told testers they used AI chatbots for schoolwork scored lower in science, on average, than students who did not.
The Numbers
More than 760,000 students in 91 countries and economies sat the 2025 test. Science was the focus subject this cycle.
PISA treats 20 score points as roughly one year of learning — meaning most 15-year-olds are now performing at the level once expected of 14-year-olds.
About 29% of 15-year-olds in OECD countries are now estimated to be "low performers" across all three subjects. In practice, the study says, that means struggling to read a simple graph, to find information in a straightforward text, or to work out the relationship between units and price at a grocery store.
The United States ranked 13th in reading and 27th in math, one place behind Germany. The top six spots in reading and the top seven in math went to Asian countries.
Timeline
PISA is administered for the first time, with 31 countries taking part. Germany is shocked to find its 15-year-olds scoring below the international average.
Reading scores fall 28 points across the OECD and 16 points in other participating countries; math falls 22 points in the OECD and eight elsewhere; science falls seven points in the OECD while holding broadly stable elsewhere.
German students post their worst PISA results to that point.
More than 760,000 students in 91 countries and economies take the test. More than 40% of students say they use AI to draft texts for writing assignments once or twice a week, or every day.
The 2025 results are published. Germany falls further still, down 15 points in reading, 11 in math and seven in science since 2022. Israel records its lowest-ever scores in all three subjects.
Reactions
The study's authors point past the pandemic for an explanation. School closures may be one factor, they write, but there is no direct relationship between how long schools shut and how students performed in reading — and the decline was already underway in many countries before COVID-19.
The long-term slide "suggest[s] deeper structural issues within education systems, with challenges at the school and system level," the study says, naming digital distraction and a growing disinterest in reading books.
Reuters framed the drop as the work of teenagers "more accustomed to smartphones than Shakespeare."
Bloomberg reported the AI finding as some of the widest-ranging evidence yet that the technology could be hurting children's learning.
In Israel, where scores hit an all-time low, the Jerusalem Post headlined its coverage with a quote calling the result a "catastrophic event on historic scale."
"Overall, the data suggests weaknesses in how education systems are adapting to social, technological and economic change," the study's summary states. "Looking ahead, the challenge for policymakers is not simply recovering lost ground, but to ensure schools meet the rapidly changing demands of the world."
What's Next
The OECD is putting the problem in front of policymakers, who now have a ranking to answer for at home — in Germany, in Israel, and in a United States sitting 27th in math among the countries measured.
The study also flags school segregation as a target for reform: in 10 countries, including Germany, differences between schools account for at least half of the total variation in student performance, a pattern the authors warn "can amplify inequalities, producing pockets of excellence while failing to ensure consistent learning outcomes."
Until governments move, the report points to parents. Asking a child what they learned at school about once a week or more is associated with a 26-point higher science score, after accounting for socio-economic status.
More
PISA is designed to measure whether students can apply reading, math and science to real-life problems rather than recite memorized facts, which means students cannot cram for it. First run in 2000, it is the world's most influential measure of educational performance.
Not everyone slipped. Reading scores improved in only five places: Qatar, up 11 points; Brunei Darussalam, up 18; Cambodia, up 26; the Philippines, up 27; and Zambia, up 50. All remain below the OECD average, but the study says they "deserve recognition for achieving measurable gains despite the broader global decline."
The steepest OECD declines in reading came in Iceland and Slovenia, where scores dropped by more than 50 points.
Poll
What is driving the collapse in teen reading scores?
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