The PISA 2025 report (Programme for International Student Assessment), released this morning, indicates that Spain is below the OECD and EU averages in the three competencies analyzed (mathematics, reading, and science) and has plummeted compared to its own 2022 data, which already showed a sharp decline. It is the worst result in its historical series since 2000.
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The setback is equivalent to an entire school year less in reading and almost another in mathematics in just three years. The international assessment also reflects a worrying global decline in young people’s reading comprehension levels in all countries worldwide, except Japan and other Asian countries. OECD analysts attribute this to mobile phone use and, to a lesser extent, AI.
In any case, the data provided by the economic organization means that the generational gap is widening rapidly. In Spain, where the decline is double that experienced on average in the OECD, students who took the PISA exam last year at age 15 perform one and a half school years less in mathematics and more than two years less compared to those who took the same exam in 2015. In other words, young people who have turned 26 were much better prepared to face adulthood, study or work demands, and citizenship in general than students who have just finished compulsory secondary education. With the aggravating factor that they have already completed the compulsory stage.
The decline occurs in all competencies and for all Spanish students on the national average, being the first time that the performance of students who traditionally showed good results has worsened. The setback among children from middle- and high-income families occurs in both science and mathematics and very pronouncedly in reading.
The proportion of brilliant students also decreases in all subjects, something that also happens on average in the OECD. Finally, added to all this is the use of AI, more frequent in Spain than in other world economies.
The Spanish trend toward this decline began to be detected in 2015. In the next edition, 2022, the drop in results was attributed to the pandemic effect. In this latest edition, the trend is established as a clearly downward arrow. The same evolution is confirmed in the OECD, only much more acute in Spain. However, it is among peers similar to its European neighbors.
Nevertheless, results in Spain are not homogeneous. A group of autonomous communities present data above the OECD and EU averages. These are Madrid, Castilla y León, Asturias, Cantabria, and Galicia. These communities have fewer vulnerable students than the rest.
At the other extreme, very polarized, is the tail end where the presence of the Valencian Community and the Basque Country is surprising.
The data from Catalonia, although appearing and standing out as good, are not comparable because this year the sample was not representative of the Catalan educational system due to the high exclusion rate. The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training decided to publish the data even though they are not valid for comparison. The rise in all competencies is notable, which raises different interpretations.
The Secretary of State, Abelardo de la Rosa, who presented the results to the press alongside the OECD senior coordinator Tue Hallgreen, pointed out that he would address the issue of excellence at the Sectoral Conference to see how the experience of the best autonomous communities can be shared. However, he linked Spain’s data to the context of the educational center and the student’s family. The OECD relates socioeconomic level to academic performance.
De la Rosa ruled out that Spain’s decline, which began in 2015 under Mariano Rajoy’s government, is due to the socialist law, LOMLOE, approved at the end of 2020. “The decline occurs in all OECD countries although it is more acute in Spain,” he noted.
It is worth remembering that after the PISA 2022 fiasco, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced a school reinforcement plan in mathematics and reading that, if fully implemented, has not had an effect, at least immediate, in stopping the decline in Spanish students’ learning.
Performance of students from middle- and high-income families has declined
The young people evaluated in the PISA 2025 edition were born in 2009, experienced lockdown when they were 11 years old and in their last year of primary school. Therefore, they entered secondary school in the years immediately following Covid, crucial in their learning and turbulent in terms of school organization and emotional well-being. The report records a worrying data point as a note of social change. Family support perceived by 15-year-old students decreases worldwide. Spain remains above but also suffers deterioration in this regard. When students are asked if their family is interested in how their day went, they answer no. It is a shared trend that seems linked to technology or job insecurity, De la Rosa pointed out.
Autonomous community results are increasingly polarized, with almost five school years difference between Asturias and Melilla
Reading
Of the three competencies, reading shows the most pronounced drop. On average, Spain scores 451 points in the 2025 edition. This is: 23 points less than in the 2022 edition, 45 below that of 2015, and below the OECD (461). This is a huge decline and difficult to recover from considering that 20 points equal one school year.
Compared to peers from Japan (503), Korea (501), Ireland (500), or Estonia (499), Spaniards do not reach but are close to a three-year difference. It should be noted that Finland is no longer among the top countries and has been definitively replaced by Estonia, which also shows strength in the other two competencies analyzed.
What is PISA
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) measures the learning levels in reading, mathematics, and science of young people born in 2009. In total, in 2025, about 30,000 teenagers from nearly a thousand Spanish schools participated. Most students (77%) were in the 4th year of compulsory secondary education, the rest were repeaters (Spain is one of the countries with the highest number of repeaters). Worldwide, 33 million students from 90 countries took the test. The test evaluates what students are capable of applying with the knowledge acquired. In addition to the three core subjects, PISA 2025 evaluated learning of a foreign language and problem-solving through digital means. The results of both competencies will be known in spring 2027.
By autonomous communities, variability is also large, with a difference of 92 points between Asturias and Melilla, almost five school years difference. A group of autonomous communities are above or equal to the OECD average. Asturias stands out with 471 points, followed by Madrid (469), Castilla y León (466), and Cantabria, La Rioja, and Aragón, the latter three with 461. At the bottom are Valencia (424), Basque Country (419), Ceuta (397), and Melilla (379).
Japan, Korea, and Estonia are the countries with the best performance
For the Secretary of State, this will be one of the government’s next objectives, as reading comprehension is the foundation of knowledge since it is the gateway to the rest of the competencies.
In general, students read short texts quickly but have difficulties with those exceeding 400 words. They do not feel comfortable with more difficult texts that require attention and depth, which include vocabulary they do not know. Reading is fast and superficial.
OECD consultant Hallgreen explained that this phenomenon occurs in all countries worldwide (except Asian countries thanks to being immersed in a different culture regarding education and effort), which shows it cannot be attributed to educational policies. Instead, it coincides with the widespread use of mobile phones and technology in general. It is also observed that the less screen time, the better the results.
Mathematics
Spain falls to 457 points, more than half a school year in three years and one and a half years since 2015. However, it is slightly below the OECD and EU, only six points away. This competency, for which there is a permanent shortage of teachers worldwide, has declined in most economies analyzed by the OECD.
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As in reading, a group of countries present spectacularly good data, well above average. These are again Japan (525), Korea (522), Estonia (508), and Switzerland (499).
By autonomous communities, there is again disparity. Madrid leads the list (477), Castilla y León (472), Cantabria (470), Asturias (469), and Galicia (466). Below the national average are Extremadura (454), Balearic Islands (449), Murcia (447), Canary Islands (442), Valencia (435), Ceuta (405), and Melilla (395). Between the first and last, there is an 82-point difference, equivalent to four full school years.
Science
This is the competency especially analyzed by the OECD in this 2025 edition. Again, Spain suffers a decline, although smaller compared to the previous knowledge areas. Scientific competency stands at 477 points, which means a setback of 16 points in a decade and 8 compared to the last edition. Compared to the OECD, it is 5 points below.
Japan (538), Estonia (527), United Kingdom (511) are the countries with the best representation and, again, far from the rest of the analyzed economies.
By autonomous communities, Madrid (495 points), Castilla y León (493), Asturias (492), Cantabria (490), or Galicia with 486 stand out. At the bottom, and differently, are the Basque Country (459), Valencia (450), Ceuta (420), Melilla (405).
Regarding student performance, by percentiles, which the OECD divides into six ranges, from lagging to excellent, Spain has 6% of lower performance and 4% of excellence. According to the organization, the optimal value is 3% lagging and 15% excellent.
Japan meets this premise. It has 3% at the minimum level, which does not reach competencies, and 17% brilliant students. But the rest of the economies do not.
AI
PISA 2025 incorporates for the first time a specific set of questions aimed at knowing how frequently students use AI-based chatbots to perform school tasks. Spanish students use artificial intelligence for school tasks more frequently than the average observed in the OECD and the European Union as a whole, regardless of the purpose considered.
In all analyzed activities, Spain shows lower percentages of students who declare never or almost never using these tools and higher percentages of those who use them weekly or daily.
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The most widespread use of artificial intelligence is support for learning, conducting preliminary research, and summarizing texts. In all, young Spaniards exceed the OECD average.
Writing papers, which is also above the average of developed countries, is the least frequent purpose.
According to Hallgreen, there is a negative correlation between AI use and academic performance. “There are countries that deviate from this trend. For example, Japan or China, which have adopted AI as a support with caution.” In contrast, Singapore has decided to embrace it. AI use without guidance, Hallgreen said, is negative, but “with moderation and purpose, it is beneficial.”
Positive aspects
Spanish students are the first in the world in the level of feeling belonging to the school and connection with their teachers. Nine out of ten respond this way. They also show curiosity, perseverance, and attachment attitude.
Educational inequality is lower in Spain than the OECD average. “It persists,” De la Rosa indicated, “but the magnitude is not the same.” Also, the level of expressed bullying and cyberbullying, which occurs more in boys than girls.
The OECD consultant indicated, for his part, that Spain had greater screen control at school and that young people do not spend as many hours as their peers in other countries. “If mobile phones are banned, there is less distraction,” Hallgreen stated. In his opinion, rules created jointly by teachers and students usually work better in almost all areas, except for mobile phones.
Negative aspects
Spain is one of the countries with the highest grade repetition rates in the world. “Evidence indicates that this measure does not contribute to school success and should only be used when all reinforcement resources fail.” Repeating students score about 100 points less than non-repeaters.
Exclusion rate: 7.89%
The exclusion rate of students in Spain has been 7.89%, higher than the 5% that PISA sets in its standards. This is due to the incidence in Catalonia (rate of 23.2%) and Murcia. When this percentage is exceeded, as in Spain’s case, the OECD performs a bias analysis, whose objective is to ensure that the finally evaluated sample faithfully represents the total target population.
After conducting the relevant bias analysis, the PISA 2025 Data Adjudication Group determined, as La Vanguardia had already reported, that Spain’s data can be fully used for international and trend comparisons. De la Rosa referred to the explanations of the regional minister about what happened in Catalonia. He also confirmed that warnings about exclusion were made at a technical, not political, level.
Contributing to Spain’s exclusion rate were not only Catalonia with an exemption of 23.2% but also Murcia with 13% and the Balearic Islands with 7.5%.
After bias analyses, the OECD decided not to include Catalonia’s data in international reports. They do appear in the national report, separately. Murcia’s data appear with a note warning that, although these data can be used for comparisons with other territories or other PISA editions, these comparisons should be taken with caution due to potential bias risk.
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