Ankara: Trkiye posted the greatest improvement among OECD countries across all three subjects in the 2025 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), raising its scores in science, reading, and mathematics despite declines in average performance across OECD countries and participating countries overall.
According to Anadolu Agency, the PISA 2025 results, administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and released simultaneously worldwide, evaluate 15-year-old students enrolled in formal education in science, reading, and mathematics through an assessment done every three years. A total of 91 countries and economies took part in the 2025 cycle. Trkiye has participated in PISA since 2003. The 2025 assessment was done digitally between April 14 and May 16, 2025, with 7,702 Turkish students from 203 schools in 56 provinces across 12 regions taking part.
The results showed particularly strong gains in science, which was designated the main subject for the 2025 cycle. Trkiye scored 494 points in science, 18 points higher than in 2022 and 26 points higher than in 2018. The OECD average was 482 points, while the average across all participating countries was 443. Trkiye also narrowed and reversed its previous gap with the OECD average, moving 12 points ahead of the OECD benchmark in science.
In reading, Trkiye's average score rose 16 points from 2022 to 472, while the OECD average fell to 461 and the overall participating-country average stood at 420. Trkiye therefore scored above both benchmarks. Trkiye's reading performance also improved substantially over the longer term. In 2018, its score was 21 points below the OECD average; by 2025, it was 11 points above it. The gap between Trkiye's score and the average across all participating countries widened from 13 points in 2018 to 52 points in 2025.
In mathematics, Trkiye boosted its average score by nine points from 2022 to 462. The OECD average was 463, while the average across all participating countries was 429. Trkiye therefore remained above the overall international average and reached the OECD average.
The results also showed significant improvements in the share of high-performing students. In science, the proportion of Turkish students performing at the highest levels rose from 4% in 2022 to 7.4% in 2025, surpassing the OECD average of 7.2% for the first time. In reading, the proportion jumped from 1.9% to 4.2%, while in mathematics it rose from 5.4% to 7.9%. Trkiye also raised the proportion of students reaching at least the minimum performance level in all three subjects. The shares of students achieving both minimum and high performance levels reached their highest levels in PISA's history. The country's rankings improved across all three subjects. Among the 91 participating countries and economies, Trkiye ranked 19th in science, up from 34th among 81 participants in 2022, 18th in reading, up from 36th, and 28th in mathematics, up from 39th. Among OECD members, Trkiye rose from 29th to 14th in science, from 30th to 13th in reading, and from 32nd to 23rd in mathematics.
Over the longer term, Trkiye also substantially improved its relative position. Between the 2003 and 2025 PISA assessments, Trkiye's relative ranking position improved 64% in science, 60% in reading, and 52% in mathematics. In 2003, Trkiye ranked 35th in science, 33rd in reading, and 34th in mathematics. The improvement is notable against a broader decline in average OECD performance. Compared with Trkiye's first PISA assessment in 2003, its science score rose from 434 to 494, its reading score from 441 to 472, and its mathematics score from 423 to 462.
According to the results, Trkiye was the only OECD member country to increase its scores in all three subjects over the past decade. It was also the OECD country with the largest score increases in all three areas compared with the 2022 assessment. The reports also highlighted improvements in students' physical and social learning environments. According to the assessment, survey data indicated that physical and social learning environments in Trkiye were better than the OECD average. The report also found that improvements in shortages and quality of education personnel in Trkiye were greater than the OECD average. As a result, education in Trkiye was found to be less affected than in OECD countries by shortages and quality-related shortcomings among education personnel.
Speaking at the PISA 2025 Regional Meeting in Bratislava, Education Minister Yusuf Tekin said Trkiye's gains reflected increased investment, expanded school capacity, and broader access to education. He said OECD officials Andreas Schleicher and Frantisek Ruzicka had described Trkiye's post-2015 PISA performance as 'extraordinary.' Tekin said education began receiving the largest share of Trkiye's general budget after 2002, calling it a major step in addressing education challenges. "Mr. (Recep Tayyip) President (Erdogan), when he took office as prime minister in 2002, the highest share of the general budget in Trkiye began to be allocated to education. "I would like this to be recognized in the literature as a very serious step toward solving our important problems. Because this was truly an important step both in terms of political prioritization and the allocation of economic resources," Tekin said.
He also highlighted measures to improve access, including student transportation, boarding schools, and services for children with special needs. Trkiye now provides education to about 18 million students in 750,000 classrooms, he said. "We were far behind the OECD average in terms of the number of students per teacher. "Today, we have surpassed the OECD average both in terms of the number of students per classroom and the number of students per teacher. This is an important innovation for us," Tekin said. He also cited the FATIH Project -- Movement of Enhancing Opportunities and Improving Technology -- saying internet access had been provided to all 750,000 classrooms and an education portal containing millions of resources had been established.
Tekin said education must go beyond academic achievement and promote human rights, democracy, peace, and justice. "We risk creating a world in which wars, human rights violations, and attacks become widespread while improving the quality of education and raising more qualified young people and children in science and mathematics," he said. He said that in order to avoid that risk, Trkiye incorporated human rights, democracy, peace, and justice more prominently into its education curriculum, completing the latest changes in 2024.
Tekin said Trkiye exceeded OECD averages in science and reading for the first time in 2025 and matched the OECD average in mathematics. "In this 2022-2025 period, when there were significant declines on a global scale, Trkiye was the only OECD country to meaningfully increase its performance in all three areas," Tekin said. He said Trkiye was also one of only two OECD countries to increase the share of high-performing students while reducing the share performing below the minimum level. "According to OECD's long-term analyses, Trkiye was again the only OECD country to meaningfully increase its performance in all three areas during the 10-year period from 2015 to 2025," Tekin said.
He added that Trkiye also launched parent education programs in 2023, with participation made mandatory this year for families of children newly entering preschool, primary and middle schools. Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said Trkiye's PISA 2025 results were an important indicator of progress in education. In a post on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal, he congratulated teachers, students, and the education community. "PISA 2025 results showing that Trkiye is the only OECD country to meaningfully increase its score in all three areas of science, reading and mathematics is an important indicator of the progress we have made in education," Yilmaz said.