18 September 2026
Maths proficiency falls in Northern Ireland PISA results
Northern Ireland's results from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment were published on 8 September. The 2025 cycle tested 3,445 fifteen-year-olds across 104 schools here, as part of an assessment covering 91 education systems. Northern Ireland scored above the OECD average in mathematics, reading and science, and above Wales, but significantly below England and the Republic of Ireland. Its performance was not significantly different from Scotland's.
The trend beneath the ranking is the concern. Reading and mathematics both show a statistically significant decline between 2015 and 2025. The clearest measure is the proportion of pupils below Level 2, the threshold the OECD treats as the baseline for participating fully in modern working life. In mathematics that group has grown from 19% in 2015 to 30% in 2025, close to a third of the cohort.
Pupils entitled to free school meals scored significantly below their peers in all three domains. Education Minister Paul Givan said the results should serve as a “wake-up call” and that his Department's TransformED programme would address persistent attainment gaps and reverse declining outcomes. The study was delivered by Pearson, with analysis and reporting by the UCL Institute of Education.
The careers implication is a practical one. Level 2 numeracy is not an abstract academic threshold. It is the gate to most apprenticeship frameworks, to a large share of further education provision, and to a wide range of technical and health related entry requirements. If close to a third of the year group sits below it, a proportion of Key Stage 4 career conversations are being held about routes that are not yet open to the young person in front of us. Linking numeracy directly to route eligibility, early and in plain terms, is more use than treating attainment and careers guidance as two separate conversations.
Read more about Northern Ireland’s PISA results.
The trend beneath the ranking is the concern. Reading and mathematics both show a statistically significant decline between 2015 and 2025. The clearest measure is the proportion of pupils below Level 2, the threshold the OECD treats as the baseline for participating fully in modern working life. In mathematics that group has grown from 19% in 2015 to 30% in 2025, close to a third of the cohort.
Pupils entitled to free school meals scored significantly below their peers in all three domains. Education Minister Paul Givan said the results should serve as a “wake-up call” and that his Department's TransformED programme would address persistent attainment gaps and reverse declining outcomes. The study was delivered by Pearson, with analysis and reporting by the UCL Institute of Education.
The careers implication is a practical one. Level 2 numeracy is not an abstract academic threshold. It is the gate to most apprenticeship frameworks, to a large share of further education provision, and to a wide range of technical and health related entry requirements. If close to a third of the year group sits below it, a proportion of Key Stage 4 career conversations are being held about routes that are not yet open to the young person in front of us. Linking numeracy directly to route eligibility, early and in plain terms, is more use than treating attainment and careers guidance as two separate conversations.
Read more about Northern Ireland’s PISA results.
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Maths proficiency falls in Northern Ireland PISA results
Almost a third of Northern Ireland fifteen-year-olds fall below the OECD basel...
18 September 2026
