The Ukrainian Center for Assessment of Educational Quality showed the results of the new PISA-2025 study. The abbreviation PISA stands for Programme for International Student Assessment, i.e., the International Student Assessment Program. Every three years, this program tests 15‑year‑old adolescents from dozens of countries on identical tasks so that the level of school education can be compared between states. The study is organized by the OECD – the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development, a group of mainly developed countries including the United States, Germany, Japan, Poland, and Estonia. That is why the report constantly includes the phrase “average OECD score” – a benchmark against which Ukraine’s results are compared.
For our country, this is the third such study – after 2018 and 2022 – and the second conducted during a full‑scale war. Because of combat operations, only children from 17 regions were able to be tested. The occupied Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as eight regions near the front – Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Kherson – were not included in the sample.
The testing took place in spring 2025, from March 17 to May 4. Participants were adolescents born in 2009 – they were 15–16 years old at the time of testing. Researchers examined three main areas: how well children understand natural sciences, mathematics, and reading. For the first time in this cycle, they also assessed a new domain – digital learning skills, i.e., solving problems using computer models and basic programming.
How many points Ukrainian adolescents scored
The result in natural sciences was 448 points, in mathematics 431, and in reading 418. PISA scores are not school‑style grades but a special scale developed by researchers so that the average result across all participating countries is about 500 points. In each of the three domains, Ukrainian adolescents scored below the OECD average: 482, 463, and 461 points respectively. The difference is substantial: roughly one and a half years of study in natural sciences and mathematics, and almost two years in reading. In other words, an average 15‑year‑old Ukrainian knows and can do as much as an OECD student would have known two years earlier.
For comparison, researchers selected six countries similar to Ukraine in size or history – referred to as reference countries in the report: Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Slovakia, and Estonia. Poland and Estonia outperform Ukraine in everything and by a wide margin. Slovakia is also better in all three domains. However, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Georgia lag behind Ukraine. The weakest area for Ukrainian students is reading: here the result is even lower than their own scores in mathematics and natural sciences.
What do these numbers mean in practice? The study includes the concept of a basic level – the minimum knowledge and skills needed to function normally in adult life: understanding what is read, performing simple calculations, and grasping basic scientific concepts. In Ukraine, 65 % of adolescents reach the basic level in natural sciences, 54 % in mathematics, and 55 % in reading. In plain terms, almost every second 15‑year‑old Ukrainian lacks basic math and reading skills, and about every third lacks basic natural science skills.
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Has it improved or worsened since 2022?
Compared to the previous 2022 study, results slightly declined in all three domains, but the decline is so small that it can be considered statistically insignificant. Researchers explain that after the sharp drop between 2018 and 2022 – due to COVID, distance learning, and the start of the war – the situation has largely stabilized rather than continued to deteriorate.
The problem is that this “stabilized” level is still significantly lower than before all crises. Compared to 2018, reading fell by 48 points, mathematics by 22, and natural sciences by 21. Thus, recovery to pre‑war levels has not yet occurred in any domain.
Boys and girls: who is stronger where
In reading, girls outperform boys by 32 points – almost one and a half years of study difference. Over the last three years, boys’ reading scores have deteriorated significantly, while girls’ have remained almost unchanged. In natural sciences, the gender gap is small, though there are nuances: boys explain scientific phenomena slightly better, while girls excel in evaluating scientific information and environmental tasks.
Interestingly, in the new digital learning domain, the picture is reversed: boys outperform girls, especially in programming tasks.
Family wealth and place of residence still affect scores
To assess family affluence, PISA researchers use a special index – ESCS – which takes into account parents’ education and professions, the presence of books and technology at home, and other similar factors. Children from more affluent families perform better in natural sciences than those from poorer families – the difference reaches 66 points. The good news is that this gap in Ukraine is smaller than the OECD average. The bad news is that even children from affluent Ukrainian families lag behind their peers in OECD countries. In other words, family wealth is less decisive for a child’s success in Ukraine than elsewhere, but overall educational levels remain lower regardless of affluence.
The difference between city and rural areas is also noticeable. Students from large cities consistently perform better than those from rural areas – a gap of about three years of study. The worst results come from vocational schools (formerly known as technical schools), while the best come from regular schools.
Natural sciences: explaining is easier than analyzing evidence
The best Ukrainian students perform on tasks that require explaining a phenomenon in scientific language – here the score is 455 points. Tasks that require evaluating whether a study was conducted correctly or whether there is enough evidence for a conclusion are harder – the score is lower, 443 points. In other words, Ukrainian children better remember and reproduce scientific facts than critically analyze information and draw conclusions based on it.
Digital learning – a relatively strong side
In the new digital learning domain, Ukrainian adolescents scored 478 points – below the OECD average but higher than in Moldova, Bulgaria, and Georgia. The best result among neighboring countries is in Estonia – 541 points. Ukrainian children perform better on programming tasks than on building digital models. Researchers note that this is one of the few areas where Ukrainian results look relatively good compared to other domains.
How children feel about learning
Ukrainian adolescents are less likely than their OECD peers to say they are interested in learning new things and are willing to put in effort when something doesn’t work out. At the same time, 85 % feel “at home” in school and easily make friends. Only 62 % of children see practical benefits from school knowledge – lower than the OECD average. Skipping lessons is common: 73 % of students admitted they missed at least one lesson in the two weeks before testing.
Money for education exists, but materials are lacking
Ukraine spends less per child on education than most neighboring countries – about $39,000 for the entire schooling period versus, for example, $120,000 in Estonia. At the same time, the share of the state budget allocated to education is one of the highest among comparable countries. In other words, Ukraine allocates relatively a lot of money for its economy size, but when recalculated per child, the amount is small.
This manifests in a lack of quality learning materials: school leaders in schools where more than half of Ukrainian children study complain about the shortage or low quality of textbooks and materials – the worst indicator among comparable countries. The issue of digital resources is even more acute: computers, internet, and software – problems are two to three times more common than the OECD average.
School safety, bullying, and artificial intelligence
Despite the war, over 90 % of Ukrainian students say they feel safe on the way to school, at home, and in school itself. The report authors immediately warn that the PISA survey does not ask about air‑raid alerts, shelling, or shelters, so high figures likely reflect a normal sense of safety in the school environment rather than the absence of military risks. For context: as of August 2026, 4,650 Ukrainian schools have been affected by shelling, 423 of which have been completely destroyed.
Regular bullying – systematic harassment by peers – was reported by 14 % of children, lower than the OECD average. Most students feel supported by teachers, and in this regard Ukraine even exceeds OECD averages. Moreover, Ukrainian adolescents are more likely than peers in other countries to seek help from artificial intelligence (AI) when completing tasks. Researchers do not rush to label this a problem of academic integrity, but emphasize that schools should establish clear rules about when AI help is acceptable and when it is not.
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