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Diagram of the education system

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    • Education system in United Kingdom

    United Kingdom
    Student performance (PISA 2018)
  • In reading literacy, the main topic of PISA 2015, 15-year-olds in the United Kingdom score 504 points compared to an average of 487 points in OECD countries. Girls perform better than boys with a statistically significant difference of 20 points (OECD average: 30 points higher for girls).
  • On average, 15-year-olds score 502 points in mathematics compared to an average of 489 points in OECD countries. Boys perform better than girls with a statistically significant difference of 12 points (OECD average: 5 points higher for boys).
  • In the United Kingdom, the average performance in science of 15-year-olds is 505 points, compared to an average of 489 points in OECD countries. Boys perform better than girls with a non statistically significant difference of 2 points (OECD average: 2 points higher for girls).
  • Socio-economic status explains 9% of the variance in reading performance in the United Kingdom (OECD average: 12%).
  • The average difference between advantaged and disadvantaged students in reading is 80 points, compared to an average of 89 in OECD countries. However, 14% of disadvantaged students are academically resilient (OECD average: 11%).
    • | PISA 2018 | Country Note | PISA 2018 Assessment and Analytical Framework | PISA Database | National website | Glossary |
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    The following list displays indicators for which your selected country shows the highest and lowest values among countries. The list can be sorted by level of education or by age group. All rankings are calculated including available data from OECD and partner countries. Find out more about the methodology here.

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    Student performance in reading

    The difference between boys and girls in reading performance is one of the smallest among PISA-participating countries and economies in favour of girls. (20 PISA Score, rank 67/76 , 2018) Download Indicator

    Student performance in mathematics

    Girls outperform boys in mathematics performance with one of the largest score-point difference. (-12 PISA Score, rank 37/45 , 2018) Download Indicator

    The change in maths performance between 2015 and 2018 shows one of the strongest decreases among PISA-participating countries and economies. (9 PISA Score, rank 12/16 , 2018) Download Indicator

    Participation in education

    The percentage of students attending government or public schools is one of the lowest among PISA-participating countries and economies. (36.4 %, rank 72/75 , 2018) Download Indicator

    A large share of 15 year-old students attend private schools. (63.6 %, rank 4/75 , 2018) Download Indicator

    Student well-being

    In United Kingdom, the average level of student's life satisfaction is one of the lowest among countries and economies participating in PISA. (6.16 PISA Index, rank 67/70 , 2018) Download Indicator

    Students in United Kingdom report to have one of the weakest positive feelings, compared to other PISA-participating countries and economies. (-0.29 PISA Index, rank 67/69 , 2018) Download Indicator

    In United Kingdom, 15-year-old students have a strong fear of failure. (0.27 PISA Index, rank 8/77 , 2018) Download Indicator

    Students' engagement, drive and self-beliefs

    A large share of students disagreed or strongly disagreed that 'your intelligence is something about you that you can't change very much'. (70 %, rank 9/78 , 2018) Download Indicator

    Performance and socio-economic status

    The percentage of resilient students in reading (i.e. students in the bottom quarter of the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status [ESCS] who perform among the top quarter of students internationally) is one of the highest among PISA-participating countries and economies. (14 %, rank 10/76 , 2018) Download Indicator

    Performance and diversity

    The difference in reading performance between immigrant students who speak the language of assessment at home those who do not is small or in favour of the second (Qatar) compared to other PISA-participating countries and economies. (20 PISA Score, rank 28/32 , 2018) Download Indicator


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    General findings
      Reading literacy is defined as students' capacity to understand, use, evaluate, reflect on and engage with texts in order to achieve one's goals, develop one's knowledge and potential, and participate in society.

    • Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang (China) and Singapore scored significantly higher in reading than all other countries/economies that participated in PISA 2018. Estonia, Canada, Finland and Ireland were the highest-performing OECD countries in reading.
    • Some 77% of students, on average across OECD countries, attained at least Level 2 proficiency in reading. At a minimum, these students are able to identify the main idea in a text of moderate length, find information based on explicit, though sometimes complex, criteria, and reflect on the purpose and form of texts when explicitly directed to do so. Over 85% of students in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang (China), Canada, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong (China), Ireland, Macao (China), Poland and Singapore performed at this level or above.
    • Around 8.7% of students, on average across OECD countries, were top performers in reading, meaning that they attained Level 5 or 6 in the PISA reading test. At these levels, students are able to comprehend lengthy texts, deal with concepts that are abstract or counterintuitive, and establish distinctions between fact and opinion, based on implicit cues pertaining to the content or source of the information. In 20 education systems, including those of 15 OECD countries, over 10% of 15-year-old students were top performers.
    | PISA 2018 Results (Volume I): What Students Know and Can Do | Education policies: Skills |
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      Mathematics literacy is defined as students' capacity to formulate, employ and interpret mathematics in a variety of contexts. It includes reasoning mathematically and using mathematical concepts, procedures, facts and tools to describe, explain and predict phenomena.

    • On average across OECD countries, 76% of students attained Level 2 or higher in mathematics. At a minimum, these students can interpret and recognise, without direct instructions, how a (simple) situation can be represented mathematically (e.g. comparing the total distance across two alternative routes, or converting prices into a different currency). However, in 24 countries and economies, more than 50% of students scored below this level of proficiency.
    • Around one in six 15-year-old students in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang (China) (16.5%), and about one in seven students in Singapore (13.8%), scored at Level 6 in mathematics, the highest level of proficiency that PISA describes. These students are capable of advanced mathematical thinking and reasoning. On average across OECD countries, only 2.4% of students scored at this level.
    | PISA 2018 Results (Volume I): What Students Know and Can Do | Education policies: Skills |
    Visualisations
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
      Science literacy is defined as the ability to engage with science-related issues, and with the ideas of science, as a reflective citizen. A scientifically literate person is willing to engage in reasoned discourse about science and technology, which requires the competencies to explain phenomena scientifically, evaluate and design scientific enquiry, and interpret data and evidence scientifically.

    • On average across OECD countries, 78% of students attained Level 2 or higher in science. At a minimum, these students can recognise the correct explanation for familiar scientific phenomena and can use such knowledge to identify, in simple cases, whether a conclusion is valid based on the data provided. More than 90% of students in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang (China) (97.9%), Macao (China) (94.0%), Estonia (91.2%) and Singapore (91.0%) achieved this benchmark.
    | PISA 2018 Results (Volume I): What Students Know and Can Do | Education policies: Skills |
    Visualisations
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    • In 11 countries and economies, including the OECD countries Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Japan, Korea, Norway and the United Kingdom, average performance was higher than the OECD average while the relationship between socio-economic status and reading performance was weaker than the OECD average.
    • In spite of socio-economic disadvantage, some students attain high levels of academic proficiency. On average across OECD countries, one in ten disadvantaged students was able to score in the top quarter of reading performance in their countries (known as academic resilience), indicating that disadvantage is not destiny. In Australia, Canada, Estonia, Hong-Kong (China), Ireland, Macao (China) and the United Kingdom, all of which score above the OECD average, more than 13% of disadvantaged students were academically resilient.
    • In all countries and economies that participated in PISA 2018, girls significantly outperformed boys in reading - by 30 score points, on average across OECD countries. The narrowest gender gaps (less than 20 score points) were observed in Argentina, Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang (China), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama and Peru; the widest (more than 50 score points) were observed in Finland, Jordan, the Republic of North Macedonia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
    | PISA 2018 Results (Volume II): Where All Students Can Succeed | Education policies: Gender | Education policies: Socio-economic status | Education policies: Migrant background |
    Visualisations
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    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    • Co-operation amongst students was more prevalent than competition, on average across OECD countries in 2018. Some 62% of students reported that students co-operate with each other while only 50% of students reported that their schoolmates compete with each other.
    • Some 23% of students reported being bullied at least a few times a month, on average across OECD countries.
    • Some 88% of students across OECD countries agreed that it is a good thing to help students who cannot defend themselves and it is wrong to join in bullying. Girls and students who were not frequently bullied were more likely to report stronger anti-bullying attitudes than boys and frequently bullied students.
    • On average across OECD countries, 21% of students had skipped a day of school and 48% of students had arrived late for school in the two weeks prior to the PISA test. In Georgia, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, at least one in five students had skipped school at least three times during that period.
    • On average across OECD countries, 67% of students reported being satisfied with their lives (students who reported between 7 and 10 on the 10-point life-satisfaction scale). Between 2015 and 2018, the share of satisfied students shrank by 5 percentage points.
    • In a majority of school systems, students who expressed a greater fear of failure scored higher in reading, but reported less satisfaction with life, than students expressing less concern about failing, after accounting for the socio-economic profile of students and schools.
    | PISA 2018 Results (Volume III): What School Life Means for Students' Lives | Education policies: Students' Well-Being | Education policies: Student engagement and motivation | Education policies: Learning time & Disciplinary climate | OECD Better Life Index |
    Visualisations
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    Key
    Country Reviews for United Kingdom

    Note: These values should be interpreted with care since they are influenced by countries' specific contexts and trade-offs. In education, there is often no simple most- or least-efficient model. For instance, the share of private expenditure in education must be read against other measures designed to mitigate inequities, such as loans and grants; longer learning time is an opportunity to convey more and better content to students, but may hinder investments in other important areas. If you want further information on the nature of different variables, please take the time to read the analysis and contextual information, available at the website for each publication.
    All rankings for individual variables are compiled on the basis of OECD and G20 countries for which data are available. The OECD average includes only OECD countries which are listed here: http://www.oecd.org/about/membersandpartners/

    *TALIS averages are based on all countries participating in the TALIS survey, including partner countries and economies. This explains the difference between the OECD average and the TALIS average. Data from the TALIS survey and Education at a Glance (EAG) may differ. See Annex E of the TALIS technical report and Annex 3 of EAG 2019 for more details about the data collections.

    B-S-J-Z (China) refers to the four PISA-participating provinces/municipalities of the People's Republic of China: Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

    For additional notes, please refer to annexes in the list of links below the introductory country profile text.