PISA 2025: Romanian students’ average scores in mathematics and reading lower than ten years ago

A total of 48% of Romanian 15-year-olds who took the OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests in 2025 reached the minimum proficiency level (Level 2) in Mathematics, compared with 52% in Reading and 54% in Science.

This is below the OECD averages of 65%, 69%, and 74%, respectively, according to the PISA 2025 results, released on Tuesday, September 8.

Compared with the previous assessment, Romania recorded a slight deterioration in results across all three areas assessed.

Compared to 2015, the proportion of low-performing students (scoring below proficiency Level 2) increased by 12 percentage points in mathematics; by nine percentage points in reading; and by seven percentage points in science.

Romanian students scored an average of 425 points in Science, 419 in Mathematics, 413 in Reading and 442 in Computational Thinking, which was assessed for the first time as part of the “Learning in the Digital World” component. All scores were below the OECD average.

In Science and Mathematics, the 2025 results are close to those recorded in 2022, while Reading scores fell by 16 points.

The proportion of high-performing students (Levels 5 or 6) was of 2% in Science, around 4% in Mathematics and 1% in Reading, compared with OECD averages of 7%, 8% and 6%, respectively.

The data confirm a socioeconomic disparity, the Education Ministry pointed out, as socioeconomic disadvantage is concentrated in rural schools, with significant gaps of around 100 points continuing to separate students attending urban and rural schools across all three domains: 109 points in Mathematics, 98 points in Science, and 94 points in Reading.

Student performance across OECD countries has continued to decline, reaching the lowest average ever recorded by PISA in mathematics and reading. Across the OECD, one in five 15-year-old students is now a low performer in science, mathematics and reading, up from 16% in 2022.

Average reading scores fell by 28 points across OECD countries between 2015 and 2025, equivalent to about one and a half years of learning.

Mathematics scores fell by 22 points, equivalent to just over one year of learning. Among non-OECD PISA participants, reading scores fell by 16 points and mathematics scores by eight points over the same period.

Across OECD countries, advantaged students scored 85 points higher in science than disadvantaged students. The gap narrowed between 2022 and 2025, but largely because advantaged students performed less well rather than improvements among disadvantaged students.

PISA 2025 was the largest assessment to date, involving 760,000 students across 91 countries and economies. This year’s edition focused on science, where average performance was stable between 2022 and 2025 across OECD countries, after having trended downward between 2009 and 2022.