Iceland records steepest PISA decline among participating countries

Icelandic students’ performance has declined more since 2015 than that of students in any of the more than 70 countries and territories covered in a new OECD PISA summary, mbl.is reports.

The 2025 PISA results, based on tests taken by 15-year-old students in spring 2025, were published on Tuesday. The assessment is generally conducted every three years and covers three core subjects: science, reading and mathematics.

When developments in all three subjects between 2015 and 2025 are combined, Iceland ranks last in the comparison.

Iceland sees largest decline in two subjects

Iceland recorded the biggest decline of any participating country in two of the three subjects.

In science, the average change among 35 comparable OECD countries was a decline of seven points. Iceland’s score fell by 37 points.

In reading, the OECD average declined by 27 points, while Iceland’s score fell by 64 points.

In mathematics, the OECD average fell by 24 points and Iceland’s score declined by 46 points. Only three of the more than 70 countries and territories included in the comparison recorded a larger decline in mathematics.

Long-term decline continues

The previous PISA results were published in December 2023, based on testing conducted in 2022. Iceland had then recorded the largest decline of any country compared with the previous assessment, held in 2018.

The latest results show that the trend has not been reversed. Experts who have spoken to mbl.is in recent years had not expected it to be reversed, pointing to little or no action to halt the decline.

Between 2022 and 2025, Iceland fell by 14 points in reading, nine points in mathematics and six points in science. The change in science is not considered statistically significant.

The OECD report specifically states that the results either confirm or extend the substantial decline recorded in the previous assessment. What could previously have been explained, however weakly, as a temporary deviation has now become part of a clear long-term trend.

Iceland ranks lowest among the Nordic countries

Iceland’s performance is also weak when measured by its scores rather than by changes over time. It scored 41 points below the OECD average in science, with 441 points compared with 482; 39 points below average in reading, with 422 compared with 461; and 13 points below average in mathematics, with 450 compared with 463.

The countries closest to Iceland in score are generally not those with which Iceland is usually compared. In science, they are Brunei, Chile and Israel. In reading, they are Uruguay, Montenegro and Greece. In mathematics, they are the United Arab Emirates, Croatia and Norway.

The report includes a qualification regarding Norway’s figures, as 10.4 per cent of its students were excluded from participation.