Results stabilise but more work to do
New Zealand’s PISA 2025 results show stabilised student performance but highlight gaps in participation, prompting calls for continued reforms.
Education Minister Erica Stanford announced that New Zealand students’ achievement in reading, science, and mathematics remains above the OECD average, with rankings of ninth, tenth, and sixteenth respectively. The results mirror those from PISA 2022, indicating a halt to previous declines. Stanford noted progress in computational problem-solving, a focus area for 2025, and improved student attitudes toward school compared to 2022.
Stanford acknowledged the positive trends but cautioned that New Zealand did not meet OECD participation requirements for PISA 2025. Only 52 percent of selected schools and 76 percent of selected students participated, raising concerns about the data’s representativeness. The Government emphasised the need to interpret results with care due to the partial response rate.
The Minister highlighted the value of international studies like PISA in assessing education system performance over time. She stated that participation in these studies is essential for identifying strengths and areas for improvement. Stanford stressed that such data informs policy decisions aimed at raising student achievement.
The Government recently passed legislation mandating selected schools’ participation in PISA and other international monitoring tools. This move aligns with one of Stanford’s six education priorities: using data to drive consistent improvement in student outcomes.