Fifteen-year-old students in Ireland have ranked first in the European Union for reading literacy in the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In addition to leading the EU in reading, Irish teenagers placed third among EU member states in science and fourth in mathematics.

The PISA 2025 assessment evaluated student capabilities across 91 countries and economies worldwide. Globally, Ireland placed seventh in reading, 14th in mathematics, and 15th in science. Among the 38 OECD member nations, Irish pupils finished third in reading, ninth in mathematics, and 11th in science. A representative sample of 6,356 students across 172 schools in Ireland took part in the testing, which was administered locally in early 2025 as part of a global study involving over 760,000 pupils.

Despite maintaining top-tier international standings, Ireland recorded lower average scores in reading and mathematics compared to the previous assessment cycle. Ireland's mean score in reading dropped to 500 from 516 in 2022, while mathematics fell to 480 from 492. However, because average student performance declined sharply across many OECD countries during the same period, Ireland's overall relative position in global comparisons remained robust.

The findings also revealed noticeable performance differences across demographics within Ireland. Male students outperformed female students in science by an average of seven points, as well as in mathematics and computational problem-solving—an innovative domain included in the 2025 cycle. Conversely, female students significantly outperformed male peers in reading literacy. Additionally, students enrolled in Transition Year achieved higher average scores across all core domains than peers in other secondary grade levels.

Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton said the results demonstrate that Ireland continues to perform strongly on the international stage, describing reading achievement as a major success story while noting wider global declines. The Department of Education highlighted that Irish outcomes remain significantly above both the EU and OECD averages across all three core academic domains.