PISA 2025: What the New Results Mean for Elementary Kids

Updated: September 25, 2026. All numbers come from publications by the OECD, TU München, and the Center for International Comparative Education Studies (ZIB), as well as from elementary school studies. Sources are linked throughout.

It's Wednesday afternoon, and your child is sitting at the kitchen table reading a word problem out loud. "On the farm there are... uh... 47... uh... chickens..." The words come out, but the understanding doesn't. After three sentences, your child looks at you: "So what am I supposed to do now?" You explain the problem in your own words, and suddenly your child starts calculating. The problem wasn't the math, it was the text.

Many parents think of scenes like this when PISA headlines make the news again. So here's the most important context up front: PISA tests 15-year-olds, not elementary school children. The study says nothing about how your child reads or does math today in grade 2 or 3. What it does show, how the elementary school studies fit into the picture, and what you can take away from it, is what this article is about.

PISA 2025: The Results for Germany

According to TU München and ZIB (in German), who lead the German part of the study, teenagers in Germany score 486 points in science, 465 in reading, and 464 in math. Compared to PISA 2022, that's 11 points less in math (down from 475 to 464) and 15 points less in reading (down from 480 to 465). In science, the score is six points below 2022, a difference the OECD says is not statistically significant (Deutsches Schulportal (in German)).

For context: 20 points on the PISA scale correspond to roughly the average learning progress of one school year at age 15 (Deutsches Schulportal).

The OECD sums it up: the 2025 results are the lowest PISA has ever measured in Germany in all three subjects, and they continue a downward trend from the past decade. Internationally, Germany is close to the OECD average in all three areas (OECD country report). The OECD average also declined compared to 2022, by 9 points in math and 14 points in reading (Deutsches Schulportal).

How Many Teenagers Fall Short of the Minimum Level

PISA divides results into six proficiency levels. Level 2 counts as the minimum level. Teenagers who don't reach it, according to TU München, "lack the basic skills they need to reliably handle the demands of training, work, and everyday life."

These three shares come from Deutsches Schulportal. The OECD gives the flip side: 66 percent reach at least level 2 in math, 68 percent in reading, and 73 percent in science. Since 2015, the share below level 2 has risen by 17 percentage points in math, 15 in reading, and ten in science (OECD country report). Around a fifth of 15-year-olds don't have adequate basic skills in any of the three areas (TU München).

What does level 2 actually mean? In reading, teenagers at this level can grasp the main point of a medium-length text and find information based on given criteria, among other things. In math, they can recognize how to represent a simple situation mathematically without being told directly (Deutsches Schulportal). The OECD gives examples like comparing the total length of two routes or converting prices into another currency (OECD country report). These aren't top-tier skills, just everyday tasks.

The Top Performers Are Shrinking Too

The share of especially strong teenagers (level 5 and 6) has fallen since 2015 from 13 to 8 percent in math, from 12 to 7 percent in reading, and from 11 to 9 percent in science (TU München). Internationally, though, Germany is still level with the OECD average for the top group, or slightly above it: 8 percent in math (OECD average: 8), 7 percent in reading (6), and 9 percent in science (7) (OECD country report).

Family Background Weighs Heavily

In science, socioeconomically advantaged teenagers (the top quarter) score 125 points more on average than disadvantaged ones (the bottom quarter). The OECD average gap is 85 points. Socioeconomic status explains 19 percent of the differences in science performance in Germany, compared to 12 percent for the OECD average (OECD country report). This describes a pattern across many teenagers, not a prediction for any individual child.

What PISA Measures, and What It Doesn't

PISA tests 15-year-olds at all types of secondary school, meaning after elementary school (ZIB). It doesn't test curriculum knowledge. "So we're not testing knowledge. We're examining whether teenagers have the ability to cope in today's world of life and work," says Samuel Greiff, who leads the German part of the study (TU München, PISA Fact Check (in German)).

But there are three things PISA doesn't do:

• No diagnosis for individual children. The results are based on aggregated, anonymized data and cannot be linked to individual people or schools (ZIB).
• No simple school ranking. "You should be careful about seeing the list as a simple ranking," says Greiff, partly because PISA doesn't examine the entire school system (TU München, PISA Fact Check).
• No clear-cut causes. PISA shows which characteristics are associated with stronger or weaker performance, such as social background. Why performance is declining can't be answered with a single cause from this data.

What This Means for Elementary School Kids, and What It Doesn't

There are separate studies for elementary school that test children in fourth grade. Their most recent results:

The picture is mixed. In reading, a quarter of children already missed the standard in grade 4 back in 2021, more than in 2001 and 2016. The IQB Education Trend 2021 also found that fourth graders' proficiency in German and math had "declined considerably" (IQB). In math, though, fourth graders' performance in TIMSS 2023 stayed stable, though every fourth child was still at the lowest levels (KMK). The studies measure different things at different points in time, so their results can't simply be combined mathematically. The next IGLU survey takes place in 2026 (Federal Ministry of Research).

What does this mean for you? Not alarm, but a calm look at the basics: reading with understanding, confident handling of numbers, writing your own sentences. The German PISA team recommends, among other things, identifying support needs early and specifically supporting young children. "Most learning problems don't start only in school. Crucial groundwork is already laid at preschool age. Above all, knowledge of the language of instruction is the key to all other subjects," says Samuel Greiff (TU München). For parents, that mainly means: pay attention, and talk to the teacher early if something comes up.

One Detail That Matters to Parents

PISA also asks about family life. In 2025, 73 percent of 15-year-olds in Germany said their parents ask them at least once a week what they did at school. In 2022, it was 81 percent. 41 percent talk about problems at school at least weekly, down from 57 percent in 2022 (OECD country report). These numbers alone don't say whether or how that's connected to performance. But talking about the school day is something you're in control of yourself, starting in first grade.

AI is also part of the picture now: half of 15-year-olds in Germany use AI chatbots at least once a week to help them with learning (OECD average: 46 percent, OECD country report). What to watch for with AI and homework is covered in our article on AI and homework.

Reading, Math, Writing: What to Watch For

You don't have to be a diagnostician to get a feel for where your child stands. The following observations aren't tests and don't replace the teacher's assessment. They help you ask the right questions when you talk with the school.

1. Reading with Understanding

Try this: have your child read a page from a children's book or a short nonfiction text out loud.

• Do they read in connected phrases or word by word?
• Does the emphasis match the sentence (question, statement, exclamation)?
• Can they say afterward, in their own words, what it was about?

If the reading works but retelling doesn't, you can work on comprehension: talk about the text together, ask questions about it, clarify unfamiliar words.

2. Understanding Numbers and Doing Math

Ask your child about a number like 247: "What does the 4 stand for?" If the answer is "four" instead of "forty," that's a sign about place value understanding you can discuss with the teacher. With problems like 47 + 38, notice whether your child can explain how they got there or is more likely guessing. Which content comes up in which grade is set by your German state's (Bundesland) curriculum; the teacher can tell you what's expected right now.

3. Writing Their Own Sentences

Have your child write a few sentences about their weekend or the last outing. Focus less on spelling than on these questions:

• Are they complete sentences, or more like keywords?
• Do connecting words like because, then, first, or after that show up?
• Can you tell there's a sequence?

If you notice something in one area, talk to the teacher. They see your child compared to the rest of the class and know the school's support options.

Small Routines for Home

Reading Aloud While Following Along

You read aloud with pace and expression, your child follows the text with their finger and reads along quietly. That way they hear how the text sounds and see the words at the same time. More on this is in the article Reading Aloud and Listening.

Word Problems in Everyday Life

Some children calculate confidently but stumble over the text of a word problem, like in the scene above. We wrote about why that happens in the article Child Doesn't Understand Word Problems. Try weaving small math questions into everyday life:

• At the supermarket: "A pack of cookies costs €1.89. We're buying three. Is €6 enough?"
• While baking: "The recipe serves 4, and there are six of us. How much flour do we need?"
• Setting the table: "There are five of us, and we're getting two guests. How many more plates do we need?"

Free Writing

A few sentences are enough: a note to the grandparents, a story for the stuffed animals, their own notes on the shopping list. Try praising the content first, and fixing just one thing next time instead of correcting everything at once.

Talking About the School Day

An open question at dinner is often enough: "What was easy today, and what was hard?" That way you find out early where things are getting stuck.

Where an App Can Help, and Where It Can't

An app replaces neither the teacher nor you. But it can step in when a task gets stuck and no one has time right then. The Gennady app is built for children ages 6 to 11: your child takes a photo of the worksheet, the app recognizes the tasks and reads them aloud, with word-by-word highlighting. Gennady explains the method step by step and checks your child's answer. If the answer is wrong, there are hints first; Gennady shows the correct solution for comparison only on the third try. Your child can answer by speaking, typing, or taking a photo.

We don't promise better grades or fast learning progress. Gennady is a tool for the moment at the desk, not a replacement for classroom teaching, tutoring, or a conversation with the school.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you take two things from this article, let them be these: PISA 2025 describes 15-year-olds, not your elementary school child. And the basics that matter, you can easily keep an eye on in everyday life: reading and understanding, working with numbers, writing your own sentences.

Want to try Gennady without any pressure? Try it free for 7 days, then subscribe through the App Store. Gennady is available for iPhone and iPad. The app is available in 32 languages, with explanations in 21 of them.

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