Full Breakdown
Israel Records Historic Low in 2025 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) Assessment
9/9/2026, 4:29:56 AM
Record-Low Scores Across All Subjects
The 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show Israeli 15-year-olds achieving their poorest performance since the country first participated in 2002. In the science domain Israel fell to 44th place, trailing 20 nations that remain below the developed-country average. In reading the nation ranked 37th, and in mathematics it placed 43rd out of 44 developed economies, with only Albania scoring lower. Compared with the 2022 test, Israeli students dropped eight positions in science, seven in reading and six in mathematics.
Detailed Subject Performance
In mathematics, just 5 % of Israeli students reached the top proficiency levels (Level 5 or 6), versus an OECD average of 8 %. Only 54 % attained at least Level 2, compared with 65 % across the OECD. Science results were similarly low: 4 % achieved top levels, while the OECD average is 7 %; 60 % met the minimum Level 2 threshold, versus 74 % OECD-wide. Reading proficiency showed 5 % of Israeli pupils at Level 5 or 6 (OECD average 6 %) and 59 % at Level 2 or higher (OECD average 69 %). The share of low-performing students (below Level 2) rose by 14 percentage points in both mathematics and reading, and by nine points in science, relative to 2015. The gap between the top-10 % and bottom-10 % of Israeli students remained largely unchanged in mathematics and science, while it narrowed slightly in reading.
Political Context and Ministry Response
The ministry noted that, despite the OECD confirming that all Israeli data met PISA’s quality standards, officials from the National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation in Education and the ministry failed to finalize the format for publishing the results. Education Minister Yoav Kisch was unable to prevent the release and instead scheduled a media briefing to coincide with the OECD’s publication, after a postponed nationwide Meitzav assessment was delayed until the end of the month in an effort to soften the impact.
Implications for Israel’s Education System
The OECD report emphasizes that PISA scores reflect students’ ability to solve complex problems, think critically and communicate effectively—skills deemed essential for modern labor markets. The stark decline across all three domains suggests that Israel’s education system is falling behind its developed-country peers, raising concerns about future workforce readiness and prompting calls for policy review and targeted interventions.
