Danish pupils post record-low PISA results as decline spreads worldwide

Danish 15-year-olds have achieved their weakest-ever results in the OECD’s latest PISA assessment, DR reports. Scores fell in mathematics, reading and science, but the decline was also recorded across the Nordic region and much of the world.

The PISA study, published every three years, measures how school pupils in countries around the world perform in mathematics, reading and science.

Compared with the 2022 assessment, Danish pupils’ scores dropped by 16 points in science, 18 points in mathematics and 29 points in reading.

Danish pupils still scored above the OECD average in mathematics. In science and reading, they performed at the OECD average. In 2022, Danish pupils had scored above the OECD average in all three subjects.

Among the Nordic countries, Denmark ranked in the middle. Danish and Swedish pupils performed at roughly the same level in reading, while Finnish pupils were the strongest in the region.

In science, Finnish and Swedish pupils outperformed the Danish pupils. In mathematics, Danish pupils were on a similar level to their Finnish and Swedish counterparts.

The downward trend was recorded throughout the Nordic countries. Results have declined across the region since the 2022 PISA assessment, continuing a negative trend over the past decade.

Denmark and the other Nordic countries were not alone in experiencing a decline. Of the 74 countries that took part in both the 2022 and 2025 assessments, 42 recorded lower reading results, 38 saw mathematics results fall and 11 reported a decline in science.