Singapore has topped the global education rankings.
The Pisa rankings, run by the OECD, are based on tests taken by 15-year-olds in more than 70 countries.
OECD education director Andreas Schleicher said Singapore was “not only doing well, but getting further ahead”.
Singapore is in first place in all the Pisa test subjects, ahead of school systems across Asia, Europe, Australasia and North and South America.
What is Pisa?
The Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) provides education rankings based on international tests taken by 15-year-olds in maths, reading and science.
The tests, run by the OECD and taken every three years, have become increasingly influential on politicians who see their countries and their policies being measured against these global school league tables.
Asian education systems dominate the upper reaches of the these results tables – accounting for the top seven places for maths, with Singapore followed by Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Japan, China and South Korea.
As in previous PISA tests, New Zealand’s scores in all three subjects were above OECD averages.
However, New Zealand’s scores in maths, science and reading were at their lowest point since testing began in 2000. However, we actually moved up the rankings because other countries dropped down.
New Zealand was 10th highest in reading alongside Germany and Macao, 12th highest in science alongside Slovenia, and 21st in maths alongside Vietnam.
Among English-speaking countries, only Singapore and Canada had higher scores than New Zealand in reading and science, and Singapore, Canada and Ireland had higher scores in maths.
