Türkiye records the largest score gains among OECD countries in all three subjects assessed in the 2025 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), improving its performance in science, reading and mathematics despite declines in average scores across OECD countries and participating countries overall.
The PISA 2025 results, administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and released worldwide, assess the skills of 15-year-old students in science, reading and mathematics. The assessment is conducted every three years, with 91 countries and economies taking part in the 2025 cycle.
Türkiye has participated in PISA since 2003. The 2025 assessment was conducted digitally between April 14 and May 16, 2025, with 7,702 Turkish students from 203 schools in 56 provinces and 12 regions taking part.
Türkiye records particularly strong gains in science, the main subject assessed in the 2025 cycle.
The country scores 494 points in science, 18 points higher than in 2022 and 26 points higher than in 2018.
The OECD average stands at 482 points, while the average across all participating countries and economies is 443 points. Türkiye therefore scores 12 points above the OECD average.
Türkiye also improves its reading performance, with its average score rising 16 points from 2022 to 472.
The OECD average falls to 461 points, while the average across all participating countries and economies stands at 420 points. Türkiye therefore scores above both averages.
The country also makes significant progress compared with previous assessments. In 2018, Türkiye's reading score was 21 points below the OECD average. By 2025, it was 11 points above the OECD average.
The gap between Türkiye's score and the overall international average also widens from 13 points in 2018 to 52 points in 2025.
Türkiye raises its mathematics score by 9 points from 2022 to 462.
The OECD average stands at 463 points, while the average across all participating countries and economies is 429 points. Türkiye remains well above the overall international average and nearly reaches the OECD average.
The results also show a rise in the share of Turkish students performing at the highest levels.
In science, the proportion of students reaching the highest performance levels rises from 4% in 2022 to 7.4% in 2025, exceeding the OECD average of 7.2% for the first time.
In reading, the share increases from 1.9% to 4.2%, while in mathematics it rises from 5.4% to 7.9%.
Türkiye also increases the proportion of students reaching at least the minimum performance level in all three subjects. The shares of students reaching both minimum and high performance levels reach their highest levels since Türkiye began participating in PISA.
Among 91 participating countries and economies, Türkiye ranks 19th in science, up from 34th among 81 participants in 2022. It ranks 18th in reading, up from 36th, and 28th in mathematics, up from 39th.
Among OECD members, Türkiye rises from 29th to 14th in science, from 30th to 13th in reading and from 32nd to 23rd in mathematics.
Between 2003 and 2025, its relative ranking position improves by 64% in science, 60% in reading and 52% in mathematics. In 2003, Türkiye ranked 35th in science, 33rd in reading and 34th in mathematics.
Its scores also rose substantially compared with its first PISA assessment in 2003. Science scores increase from 434 to 494, reading scores from 441 to 472, and mathematics scores from 423 to 462.
The improvement comes as average performance across OECD countries declines.
The PISA results also highlight improvements in students' physical and social learning environments.
According to the assessment's survey data, Türkiye's physical and social learning environments perform better than the OECD average.
The report also finds that Türkiye makes greater progress than the OECD average in reducing shortages and improving the quality of education personnel.
As a result, education in Türkiye is less affected than in OECD countries by shortages and quality-related problems among education personnel.
