PISA 2025 Results Show Israeli Students' Decline in Key Subjects
The Israeli Ministry of Education released the results of the 2025 PISA exams, revealing a significant decline in performance among 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics, and science. The PISA study, conducted by the OECD, assessed 7,330 students from 215 schools in Israel during March and April 2025. Compared to the 2022 exams, Israeli students lost 38 points in reading comprehension, 25 points in mathematics, and 23 points in science.
In terms of international rankings, Israel dropped five places to 31st out of 38 OECD member countries in reading comprehension. In science, students fell two places to 33rd, and in mathematics, they dropped one place to 33rd.
The Ministry of Education attributed the decline to the ongoing war, which caused widespread displacement, disruption to education, and the mobilization of teachers for reserve duty. "The PISA 2025 exams represent, above all, a picture of the learning reality under the war," the ministry stated, noting that students took the test nearly 18 months into the conflict.
Despite the drop in scores, the ministry highlighted that Israel maintained its relative international standing compared to 2018, a pre-pandemic benchmark. While points were lost, the rankings in reading and science remained the same, and mathematics only slipped one position. The ministry also pointed out a general decline in OECD countries over the past decade, suggesting Israel's performance, under exceptional circumstances, shows notable resilience.
The ministry emphasized its decision to conduct the PISA exams during wartime to obtain an accurate and comparable picture of the learning situation. "We are publishing the full data, learning from it, and acting upon it, to transform this resilience into growth and an increase in achievement," said Education Minister Yoav Kisch. The ministry is already implementing programs like "Growing Anew" to bolster basic skills and "Israel Realistic" to enhance mathematics, science, and STEM fields.
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