German school pupils have recorded their worst-ever results in the PISA international assessment – and the gap between socially privileged and disadvantaged children appears to be widening.
Students in Germany achieved their lowest scores in mathematics, reading and science, according to the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study.
The PISA study, which takes place every three years, involves testing 15-year-olds on basic skills in more than 90 countries worldwide. Around 760,000 students took part last year, including around 6,700 from Germany.
Here, around one in three 15-year-olds did not reach the basic proficiency level in reading or mathematics, while roughly one in four fell below that level in science. Germany’s 2025 results are the lowest ever measured by PISA in all three subjects in the country since the study began in the year 2000.
Performance has generally declined since 2015, with the trend particularly pronounced in mathematics. German pupils scored more than 500 PISA points in mathematics in 2015, compared with 464 in 2025.
German pupils scored 465 points in reading, 464 in mathematics and 486 in science. These figures are close to the OECD averages of 461, 463 and 482 respectively.
The assessment does not test pupils on their knowledge of the German school curriculum. Instead, PISA examines whether 15-year-olds can apply what they know to practical problems, such as understanding a lengthy email, comparing prices or interpreting information in a graph.
READ ALSO: Sharp decline in maths and science performance by students in Germany
Social inequality remains a major challenge
The PISA findings also highlight a persistent problem in Germany; namely the way that educational success so often depends on the family a child comes from.
The gap between socially privileged and disadvantaged pupils has widened since 2015.
Professor Samuel Greiff, an education researcher at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and head of the German section of the PISA study, warned that this isn’t solely about children’s migration background.
He said the decisive factor is whether children come from privileged or disadvantaged backgrounds.
In science subjects, for instance, he said it’s clear that young people from privileged backgrounds perform significantly better.
Greiff said Germany should look to England for clues on how this trend can be countered. Schools there receive additional funding for children from difficult social backgrounds and can decide how to use it.
READ ALSO: The things they don’t tell you about raising kids in Germany
What’s the reaction?
The poor results have sparked calls for reforms. Rainer Dulger, President of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations, said education is a core responsibility of the state, and there needs to be a promise of social mobility.
The federal and state governments must deliver on this – “in a binding, measurable way and regardless of background or place of residence”. He proposed uniform educational standards and targeted support.
Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) called the results “worrying”.
The minister said it was unacceptable that the social divide in educational skills was continuing to widen.
“We are failing to realise the potential of our pupils, both at the lower end of the performance spectrum and at the upper end,” she said.
Greiff added that the latest results “show that the findings of the most recent studies were not a short-term phenomenon, but that we are seeing a clear downward trend”.
READ ALSO: German school pupils plummet to ‘lowest score ever’ in international rankings
Discussion about this post