J.P. Junior Pereira/ShutterstockEvery three years, the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests the reading, maths and science skills of 15-year-olds in countries across the world. Each Pisa cycle other skills are tested: in 2025, computational problem solving and use of AI were two additional topics covered. Pisa, carried out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), also asks the young people tested questions about their experience of school and their attitude to learning.The latest Pisa results have recently been released. They are most useful when looking at patterns over time. Because only a sample of pupils in each country are tested each year, any single result for a country on one subject will have some uncertainty about it. East Asian countries continue to get the highest scores, with Singapore and a number of Chinese jurisdictions again in the top spots.Elsewhere, the overall picture is a troubling decline in reading internationally. Students seem to be struggling with skills such as interpreting information and assessing evidence, with an increase in “hasty reading” (quick but inaccurate). The OECD suggests that this may be an effect of technological distraction and more reading happening on screens, rather than taking place as part of deeper reading.Against this background, the results for the UK nations are mixed. England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales all saw slight increases in science results, which reverses a trend of results falling in the UK. This is particularly good news as internationally science scores have continued to fall. The four nations have separate education and examination systems, so why all four have done well in science is not clear and calls for further investigation. All four home nations have seen an improved performance in science. AnnaStills/Shutterstock In England overall reading scores have stayed steady over the last 20 years. Because many other countries’ scores have dipped, this means comparatively England is doing better than many. England, Scotland and Northern Ireland’s reading results in 2018 were nearly identical, but a gap has now opened as Scotland and Northern Ireland’s have declined. The most worrying results in the UK are those of Wales, which started out lower than the other UK nations and have fallen further.Scotland and Northern Ireland’s governments and schools should feel happier with the maths results. The scores here are basically the same as last time, as are England’s (again the best results of the UK nations). As with reading, maths scores are falling internationally, so keeping steady is a better outcome than most countries. But Wales has followed the international trend of continuing to drop. When comparing different countries, just like comparing schools, it is important to look at factors such as disadvantages that young people face. Wales has some of the areas with the highest rates of poverty in the UK, and poverty is linked to worse educational outcomes. However, the overall poverty rate in Wales is the same as in England so that does not explain the difference.Beyond academic achievementOverall, the UK has shown a strong academic subject performance. However, other Pisa results are more worrying. UK 15-year-olds are less well prepared than others for digital learning or to make careful assessments of AI-generated information. This outcome is unlikely to come as a surprise to scientific bodies such as the Royal Society, which has called for an overhaul of the maths curriculum to address this. There is also a persistent and growing gap between how well the most advantaged do and the most disadvantaged.Pisa’s data on young people’s sense of belonging in school is also concerning. In the UK, this is below the international average. This may be part of the reason more young people are missing school. There also seems to be more bullying in schools in the UK than elsewhere.Pisa’s snapshot surveys cannot show which schools are able to do both: help their pupils do well in exams and enjoy a safe environment where they feel they belong. Even if that is possible in some schools, it may be very hard to achieve at the level of an educational system as a whole. This means that governments, schools and parents need to consider what the educational priorities should be for schools. Whether Pisa results go up or down does not seem to make much difference to young people’s wellbeing or readiness to face an uncertain future.Mark Boylan is a member of the Green Party of England and Wales.