Explore the OECD's reports or draw from a wide variety of education indicators and data to construct your own, customised country reports, highlighting the facts, developments and outcomes of your choice.

Country

Data profiles:


Malta
Student performance (PISA 2022)
  • In mathematics, the main topic of PISA 2022, 15-year-olds in score 466 points compared to an average of 472 points in OECD countries.
  • On average, 15-year-olds score 445 points in reading compared to an average of 476 points in OECD countries.
  • In Malta, the average performance in science of 15-year-olds is 466 points, compared to an average of 485 points in OECD countries.
  • In Malta, 67% of students attained at least Level 2 proficiency in mathematics (OECD average: 69%). At a minimum, these students can interpret and recognize, without direct instructions, how a simple situation can be represented mathematically
  • Some 7% of students in Malta were top performers in mathematics, meaning that they attained Level 5 or 6 in the PISA mathematics test (OECD average: 9%). At these levels, students can model complex situations mathematically, and can select, compare and evaluate appropriate problem-solving strategies for dealing with them.
  • In Malta, 37% of students (the largest share) were in the top international quintile of the socio-economic scale, meaning that they were among the most advantaged students who took the PISA test in 2022. Their average score in mathematics was 503 score points.
  • In Malta socio-economically advantaged students (the top 25% in terms of socio-economic status) outperformed disadvantaged students (the bottom 25%) by 83 score points in mathematics. This is smaller than the average difference between the two groups (93 score points) across OECD countries.
  • Some 13% of disadvantaged students in Malta were able to score in the top quarter of mathematics performance (OECD average: 10%). These students can be considered academically resilient.
  • Boys and girls performed at similar levels on average in mathematics but girls outperformed boys in reading by 39 score points in Malta. Globally, in mathematics, boys outperformed girls in 40 countries and economies, girls outperformed boys in another 17 countries or economies. In reading, girls, on average, scored above boys in all but two countries and economies that participated in PISA 2022 (79 out of 81).
  • The share of immigrant students has increased in Malta to 12% in 2022 (5% in 2015). In 2022, 9% of 15-year-old students were first-generation immigrants, meaning that they were born in another country/economy, and their families moved to Malta only in recent years.
  • Immigrant students in Malta tend to have a more advantaged socio-economic profile than non-immigrant students; while 25% of all students are considered socio-economically disadvantaged, the corresponding share among students with an immigrant background is 20%.
  • In mathematics, the average difference in performance between immigrant and non-immigrant students was not significant both before and after accounting for students' socio-economic profile.
  • In Malta, 56% of students reported that their school building was closed for more than three months due to COVID-19. On average across OECD countries, 51% of students experienced similarly long school closures. In education systems where performance remained high and students' sense of belonging improved, fewer students experienced longer school closures.
  • In Malta, 96% reported that they had attended pre-primary education for one year or more (OECD average: 94%).
    • | PISA 2022 | Country Note | PISA 2022 Assessment and Analytical Framework | PISA Database | Glossary |
    Profile View

    Select first some countries to compare, choose the charts you wish to display and customise them.

    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.

    Show indicators for which your country ranks among the top or bottom: Sort by:

    Student performance in mathematics

    The score difference in mathematics between the 10% of students with the highest scores and the 10% of students with the lowest scores is one of the largest among PISA-participating countries and economies. (259 PISA Score, rank 10/80 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Student performance in reading

    The difference between girls and boys in reading performance is one of the smallest among PISA-participating countries and economies in favour of girls. (-39 PISA Score, rank 70/78 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The score difference in reading between the 10% of students with the highest scores and the 10% of students with the lowest scores is one of the largest among PISA-participating countries and economies. (295 PISA Score, rank 4/80 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Participation in education

    The difference in mathematics performance when there is a 10 percentage-points increase in the number of grade repeaters in the school is relatively small in Malta. (-356 PISA Score points, rank 50/50 , 2022) Download Indicator

    School climate

    Compared to other OECD and partner countries/economies, Malta seems t have a higher level of school safety risks. (0.43 PISA Index, rank 3/69 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Malta ranked among the countries with the smallest difference in mathematics performance between students arriving late for school at least once in the two weeks prior to the PISA test and those who didn't (after accounting for students' and schools' socio-economic profile). (-31 PISA Score points, rank 65/70 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Classroom environment

    Between 2018 and 2022, the change in the index of shortage of educational material in Malta was relatively more significant than in other OECD and partner countries/economies. (-0.1 PISA Index, rank 8/39 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Students' engagement, drive and self-beliefs

    The time spent on homework per day in a typical school week in Malta is long compared to the other OECD and partner countries/economies. (2 Hours, rank 6/80 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Students' life satisfaction

    In Malta, the average level of student's life satisfaction is one of the lowest among countries and economies participating in PISA. (6.24 PISA Index, rank 69/73 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Performance and socio-economic status

    In Malta, the variation within schools of the mathematics performance is among the largest, when compared to average total variation across OECD countries. (99.7 %, rank 1/80 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Malta has one of the smallest differences in mathematics score associated with repeating a grade among OECD and partner countries/economies, after accounting for students' and schools' socio-economic profile. (-85 PISA Score points, rank 72/75 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Performance and diversity

    In Malta, the share of immigrant students aged 15 who do not speak the language of the PISA assessment at home is relatively high . (74.2 %, rank 9/76 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Resources for education

    A small share of students attend schools with available room(s) where students can do their homework. (19.4 %, rank 78/80 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Malta ranked among the countries with the smallest difference in mathematics performance associated with principals reporting that the school's capacity to provide instruction is hindered to some extent or a lot by a lack of physical infrastructure, before accounting for students' and schools' socio-economic profile. (-34 PISA Score points, rank 42/44 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Malta ranked among the countries with the smallest difference in mathematics performance associated with principals reporting that the school's capacity to provide instruction is hindered to some extent or a lot by a lack of physical infrastructure, after accounting for students' and schools' socio-economic profile. (-25 PISA Score points, rank 17/17 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The share of students in schools whose principal reported that the use of cell phones is not allowed on the school premises is relatively high in Malta. (69 %, rank 9/80 , 2022) Download Indicator

    In Malta, the change between 2018 and 2022 in the share of students in schools with rooms available to do their homework is among the smallest, compared to the other OECD and partner countries/economies. (-22.9 %, rank 30/31 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Teachers

    The ratio of students to teaching staff in schools attended by 15-year-olds is comparatively low in Malta. (6.47 Ratio, rank 80/80 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Before accounting for students' and schools' socio-economic profile, Malta has one of the smallest differences in mathematics performance per 10 percentage-points increase in the share of teachers fully certified by the appropriate authority. (-4 PISA Score points, rank 26/28 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Governance

    The percentage of students attending government or public schools is one of the lowest among PISA-participating countries and economies. (56.4 %, rank 69/78 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The percentage of students attending government-dependent private schools is one of the highest among PISA-participating countries and economies. (27.6 %, rank 7/78 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Between 2018 and 2022, Malta recorded a particularly small change in the share of 15-year-old students attending government-dependent private schools, compared to the other OECD and partner countries/economies. (-3.7 %, rank 22/24 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The difference in mathematics performance associated with a one-unit increase in the index of school selectivity is relatively small in Malta, after accounting for students' and schools' socio-economic profile. (-4 PISA Score points, rank 48/49 , 2022) Download Indicator

    The difference in mathematics performance associated with a one-unit increase in the index of school selectivity is relatively small in Malta, after accounting for students' and schools' socio-economic profile. (-4 PISA Score points, rank 19/23 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Malta has a relatively low percentage of students in schools whose principal reported that there are two or more other schools in this area that compete for these students. (39.3 %, rank 74/80 , 2022) Download Indicator

    Learning time

    Malta has one of the longest learning time per week in regular language-of-instruction lessons. (28 Hours, rank 5/80 , 2022) Download Indicator

    COVID-19 effects on education

    Malta is one of the OECD and partner countries/economies with the lowest level of stress resistance, as measured by the PISA index of student's stress resistance. (-0.24 PISA Index, rank 41/42 , 2022) Download Indicator

    In Malta, students are characterized by their weak emotional control, when compared to other OECD and partner countries/economies, as measured by the PISA index of students' emotional control. (-0.23 PISA Index, rank 58/61 , 2022) Download Indicator


    The data table will display up to six selected countries.
    General findings
    

    

    

    • Singapore scored significantly higher than all other countries/economies in mathematics (575 points) and, along with Hong Kong (China), Japan, Korea, Macao (China), and Chinese Taipei, outperformed all other countries and economies in mathematics. Another 17 countries also performed above the OECD average (472 points), ranging from Estonia (510 points) to New Zealand (479 points). 
    • Boys outperformed girls in mathematics by nine score points and girls outperformed boys in reading by 24 score points on average across OECD countries. In science, the performance difference between boys and girls is not significant. 
    • An average of 69% of students are at least basically proficient in mathematics in OECD countries. This means they are beginning to demonstrate the ability and initiative to use mathematics in simple real-life situations. 
    • In 16 out of 81 countries/economies participating in PISA 2022, more than 10% of students attained Level 5 or 6 proficiency, meaning they are high-performing: they understand that a problem is quantitative in nature and can formulate complex mathematical models to solve it. By contrast, less than 5% of students are high-performing in 42 countries/economies.
    

    

    
| PISA 2022 Results (Volume I): The State of Learning and Equity in Education | 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

    


    

    

    

    

    

    

    • Singapore scored significantly higher than all other countries/economies in reading (543 points) and science (561 points). Behind Singapore, Ireland performed as well as Estonia, Japan, Korea and Chinese Taipei while another 14 education systems performed above the OECD average in reading (476 points), ranging from Macao (China) (510 points) to Italy (482 points).
    • About three out of four students have achieved basic proficiency in reading in OECD countries. 
    • In reading, an OECD average of 7% of students attained the highest proficiency levels of 5 or 6. In 13 countries/economies, more than 10% of students are top performers in reading.
    • No change in the OECD average over consecutive PISA assessments up to 2018 has ever exceeded five points in reading: in PISA 2022, however, the OECD average dropped by about 10 score points in reading compared to PISA 2018.. The unprecedented drops reading point to the shock effect of COVID-19 on most countries.
    • Only four countries and economies improved their performance between PISA 2018 and 2022 in all three subjects: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, the Dominican Republic and Chinese Taipei.
    • Trend analysis of PISA results reveals a decades-long decline that began well before the pandemic. In reading, performances peaked in 2012 and 2009, respectively, before dipping while performance began a downward descent in mathematics before 2018 in Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Slovak Republic and Switzerland.
    

    

    
| PISA 2022 Results (Volume I): The State of Learning and Equity in Education | 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

    


    

    

    

    

    

    

    • Mean performance in science remained stable. 
    • In science, the highest-performing education systems are Singapore, Japan, Macao (China), Chinese Taipei, Korea, Estonia, Hong Kong (China) and Canada. Finland performed as well as Canada in science. In addition to these nine countries and economies, another 15 education systems also performed above the OECD average in science (485 points), ranging from Australia (507 points) to Belgium (491 points). 
    • About three out of four students have achieved basic proficiency science in OECD countries.
    • In science, an OECD average of 7% of students attained the highest proficiency levels of 5 or 6. In 14 countries/economies, more than 10% of students are top performers in science. 
    • Only four countries and economies improved their performance between PISA 2018 and 2022 in all three subjects: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, the Dominican Republic and Chinese Taipei.
    • Trend analysis of PISA results reveals a decades-long decline that began well before the pandemic. In science, performances peaked in 2012 and 2009, respectively, before dipping. while performance began a downward descent in mathematics before 2018 in Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Slovak Republic and Switzerland.
    

    

    
| PISA 2022 Results (Volume I): The State of Learning and Equity in Education | 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

    


    

    

    

    

    

    

    • Socio-economically advantaged students scored 93 points more in mathematics than disadvantaged students on average across OECD countries. The performance gap attributed to students' socio-economic status is greater than 93 score points in 22 countries or economies and 50 points or fewer in 13 countries or economies.
    • Boys outperformed girls in mathematics by nine score points and girls outperformed boys in reading by 24 score points on average across OECD countries. In science, the performance difference between boys and girls is not significant. 
    • Non-immigrant students scored 29 points more than immigrant students in mathematics on average across OECD countries but non-immigrant students scored only five points more than immigrant students once socio-economic status and language spoken at home had been accounted for.
    

    

    
| PISA 2022 Results (Volume I): The State of Learning and Equity in Education | PISA 2022 Results (Volume II): Learning During - and From - Disruption | Education policies: Gender | Education policies: Socio-economic status | Education policies: Migrant background | 
    

    
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

    


    

    

    

    

    

    

    • Between 2018 and 2022 trends in students' sense of belonging at school were mixed, with equal proportions of countries/economies showing stable, improving or deteriorating trends. Of the 47 education systems with improving or stable trends, only 20 maintained or attained a level of students' sense of belonging at school that was at or above the OECD average. 
    • Around 10% of students reported feeling unsafe on their way to or from school, or in places outside of the classroom, on average across OECD countries. Some 20% of students reported that they are bullied at least a few times a month.
    • Overall, students felt more confident about using digital technology for learning remotely during future school closures than they felt about taking responsibility for their own learning. For instance, on average across OECD countries, about three out of four students reported that they feel confident or very confident about using a learning-management system, a school learning platform or a video communication program, as well as about finding learning resources online on their own.
    • Students' experience with learning at home was more positive in systems that were better prepared for remote learning. However, when learning remotely, 40% of all students reported feeling lonely and 50% of all students reported feeling anxious about schoolwork and that they fell behind in their studies; and three in ten students reported that teachers were not available when needed, on average across OECD countries. 
    

    

    
| PISA 2022 Results (Volume II): Learning During - and From - Disruption | Education policies: Students' Well-Being | Education policies: Student engagement and motivation | Education policies: Learning time & Disciplinary climate | OECD Better Life Index | 
    

    
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

    


    

    

    

    

    

    

    


    

    

    


    

    
Key

    
Diagram of funding flows - Malta

    

    

    

    

    
Click on the coverpage to see the full OECD iLibrary version

    
Key

    
Country Reviews for Malta

    

    

    

    








    
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/


    
Reference years displayed in the Education GPS correspond to the most common year of reference among countries for which data is available on each variable. Data for the latest available year is preferred and some
countries may have provided data refering to a more recent or late year. To know more about possible exceptions on data please click on the "Download Indicator" link on each variable. When a year of reference corresponds to a school year encompassing two years, the reference reads as follows: 2018 for school year 2017/2018.


    
*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 averages.
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 2021 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.