The ‘Programme for International Student Assessment PISA 2022’, which evaluates the academic performance of 15 and 16 year old students from eighty countries, shows in Spain a decline in their knowledge of mathematics and reading, more gentle than in other places, and traces a clear downward trend over the last decade. After the 2018 edition, the report was released this Tuesday with a delay due to the pandemic.
Ten of the 17 autonomous communities are above the OECD in mathematics, nine are also above the international average in reading comprehension and eight communities are above the international average in science.
At the national level, Spanish students have obtained on average their worst result in the history of the PISA Report in mathematics in the 2022 edition. Their results in reading have also worsened compared to the 2018 report but they have improved in knowledge.
Students from Castilla y León are the ones who have obtained the best results in all of Spain in mathematics, reading and science (in this field with the same score as the Galicians) in the PISA 2022 Report.
Performance in mathematics has Castilla y León in first place with 499 points ahead of the Principality of Asturias (495) and Cantabria (495), within a context of a generalized drop in Spain of eight points compared to the last report, dated in 2018, where this competition was evaluated, the last year before covid.
Worldwide, Castilla y León is ranked twelfth, in the same range of the study as Canada, Asturias, Cantabria, Madrid, the Netherlands, La Rioja, Navarra and Ireland.
Castilla y León, which has not experienced significant variations in this section compared to the previous report, also leads Spain in reading comprehension results (498 points), well above the OECD average (476), the EU (475 ) and from Spain (474).
In terms of science, Castilla y León is also first in Spain with 506 points ahead of Galicia (506) and Cantabria (504), also above the OECD average (485), Spain (485) and the EU (484).
Students from the communities of Catalonia (469) and the Basque Country (462) are the ones who have dropped the most in their skills in mathematics – with a drop of 21 and 17 points, respectively – and in reading – 38 and 31 points -, compared to previous reports.
Four other autonomous communities and cities suffer a significant decrease: Galicia (-12), Canarias (-13), Castilla-La Mancha (-16) and Melilla (-28); and the rest suffer “non-significant” decreases, except the two that experience a non-significant improvement: Madrid (8) and Asturias (4).
Regarding reading comprehension, Catalonia has lost 38 points (462), the Basque Country 32 (466) and Navarra 31 (478).
The report also reflects a decrease in the Basque Country in science (-26), while that of Navarra is 25, and that of Madrid is 15, the same figure as Catalonia, while in eight communities there have been no significant variations.
The report reveals that students in the Community of Madrid outperform the OECD, EU and Spanish averages in mathematics (with 494 points), reading (496) and science (with 502 points).
Regarding other autonomous communities, Madrid is at the forefront in mathematics, along with Castilla León, Asturias and Cantabria, and shows significant differences compared to those that have a similar volume of students. Andalusia (457), Catalunya (469) and Valencian Community (473) are behind.
Regarding reading competence, the 496 points of the Madrid students are the ninth best overall score, and the third compared to EU countries after Ireland and Estonia. In relation to other regions, it shares the first positions with Castilla y León, Asturias (497) and Cantabria (494) and surpasses those of similar size in students, obtaining up to 34 points more than Catalonia.
Regarding the last science competition, the report gives 502 points to Madrid, placing it above the national average, which is 485.