Singapore Tops Global Reading Rankings in PISA 2025, Places First or Second in All Four Domains

Singapore has ranked first in reading and second in mathematics, science, and computational problem-solving in the PISA 2025 results, released on September 8, placing it alongside the Chinese jurisdictions of Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang as the only education systems to finish in the top two across all four domains assessed, according to SGSchoolKaki's analysis of the OECD data.

Singapore's reading score of 535 points was the highest of any participating system. In mathematics, science, and the new computational problem-solving domain, scores ranged from 560 to 563, all placing second globally. Fifteen percent of Singapore's 15-year-old students were identified as academic all-rounders, meaning they scored at the top level in reading, mathematics, and science simultaneously. That proportion is the highest recorded in any participating country.

A strong result set against a declining global trend

The context makes the rankings more striking. OECD averages fell across all three core subjects, with the combined effect representing the steepest global decline in PISA's history. Against that backdrop, Singapore maintained its position as one of the world's most consistent performers. The Ministry of Education, commenting on the results, noted that students 'are curious, they persevere even when learning gets hard, and they care about the world around them.'

Not all of the data was positive. Singapore's mathematics scores fell 12 points and reading by 8 points compared with 2022, tracking the OECD-wide slide. A separate finding noted that only 49 percent of Singapore students report weekly family discussions about their schoolwork, below the OECD average of 60 percent, a gap the report flags as an actionable concern.

What the results mean for international school families

For parents making school choices in Singapore, the PISA results reinforce the city's reputation as a genuinely high-performing education environment, not just a convenient posting. Families drawn to the city's international schools, whether for British, IB, or American curricula, are operating in a system where national benchmarks set a high floor. British-curriculum schools in particular have long positioned their programmes partly on their compatibility with Singapore's academic culture; these results sustain that argument.

The B-S-J-Z grouping covering Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang also placed first in mathematics (612 points) and science (597 points), the highest scores in both subjects globally. Only 1.8 percent of students in that grouping were low performers across all three core subjects simultaneously, against an OECD average of 19.7 percent. For international school operators in Shanghai and Beijing, where families are often choosing between a foreign-curriculum school and elite local provision, the message is that the local alternative sets a formidably high bar.