Shanghai tops global school tests, UK 'stagnates'

For the first time, the UK does not make the top 20 in any subject, in international tests taken by 15 year olds in maths, reading and science.

Shanghai in China is the world's top performing education system, in the Pisa tests run by the OECD think tank.

Within the UK, Scotland outperformed England at maths and reading, but Wales is below average in all subjects.

England's Education Secretary Michael Gove said the results proved the 'urgent need for our reforms'.

Mr Gove said the results, which had failed to improve on previous tests three years ago, were a reflection on the education policies of the previous government.

Global measure

The Pisa tests - the Programme for International Student Assessment - have become the most influential rankings in international education, based on tests taken by more than 500,000 secondary school pupils.

What are the Pisa tests? International tests in maths, reading and science Tests are taken by 500,000 15 year old pupils in 65 countries and local administrations They are run every three years by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development In the UK, more than 12,000 pupils took the tests in 2012

These measure education standards in Europe, North and South America, Australasia and parts of the Middle East and Asia.

Tunisia was the only African country that participated.

The top places in the rankings are dominated by Asian school systems - although China so far does not participate as a whole country, but is represented by high-performing cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Shanghai's maths score is the equivalent of three years' schooling above the OECD average.

Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan are among the highest ranked across all subjects.

The OECD's Andreas Schleicher, in charge of the Pisa tests, has highlighted Vietnam's 'star performance'.

The South East Asian country has entered the top 10 for science and outperformed many much wealthier western education systems, including the United States.

UK slips in science

The UK has made little progress and remains among the average, middle-ranking countries, in 26th place for maths and 23rd for reading, broadly similar to three years ago.

READING TOP 10 1. Shanghai 570 2. Hong Kong 545 3. Singapore 542 4. Japan 538 5. South Korea 536 6. Finland 524 7. Ireland 523 8. Taiwan 523 9. Canada 523 10. Poland 518

Source: OECD

But the UK has slipped in science from 16th to 21st place.

Although not directly comparable, because there have been different numbers of countries taking part, this marks a sustained decline, with the UK having ranked 4th in the tests taken in 2000.

Much of this falling behind has been caused by other countries improving more quickly.

The OECD figures show that there has been almost no change in the UK's test scores, with the results 'flat lining'.

Within the UK, Scotland has performed slightly better than England in maths and reading, with England higher for science. Northern Ireland is behind them both across all subjects.

But the biggest gap is between Wales and the other parts of the UK, adrift from most of the middle ranking western countries.

Katja Hall, the chief policy director of the CBI employers' organisation, said: 'No issue matters more to the UK economy over the long term than the quality of our education system.'

But she warned the results should be a 'wake-up call' and that when UK schools are only 'treading water' that the country's economic performance will suffer.

Happiest pupils

The lowest ranked countries in this international league table are Peru and Indonesia. The OECD says the gap between top and bottom of this global classroom is the equivalent of six years of learning.

However Indonesia also appears as the country where the highest proportion of children say they are happiest at school. And the least happy pupils are in high-performing South Korea.

MATHS TOP 10 1. Shanghai 613 2. Singapore 573 3. Hong Kong 561 4. Taiwan 560 5. South Korea 554 6. Macau-China 538 7. Japan 536 8. Lichtenstein 535 9. Switzerland 531 10. Netherlands 523

Source: OECD

Finland, once an education superpower at the top of the rankings, has slipped downwards. Along with Sweden, Finland had the biggest fall in scores of any country in maths tests.

Sweden has fallen behind eastern and central European countries such as Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Estonia.

But Finland still has the highest position of any European country, fifth in science, the only non-Asian country in any of the top fives.

Among the strongest performances by English-speaking countries are Ireland, ranked 7th in reading, and Canada ranked 10th in science.

Chile is the strongest performer among South American countries, above the lowest-performing European country, Albania.

These Pisa tests provide an increasing level of regional detail and they show the huge variation within a single country.

In Italy, the region of Trento is one of the best in the world at maths, but Calabria is far below many European countries, the equivalent of two years behind.

The US remains average or below average, below countries such as Russia and Spain, but individual states are high performers.

If Massachusetts was ranked as a country it would be sixth best in the world, ahead of any European country.

From a low base in previous years, one of the biggest improvers in maths and reading is Qatar, a country that has been a high-profile investor in education.

Falling behind

Mr Gove said that the UK's lack of progress was evidence that Labour's spending on schools had failed to deliver improvements and that England's education system had 'stagnated' and fallen behind other countries.

It will take another decade to measure the impact of the current government's reforms, said Mr Gove.

SCIENCE TOP 10 1. Shanghai 580 2. Hong Kong 555 3. Singapore 551 4. Japan 547 5. Finland 545 6. Estonia 541 7. South Korea 538 8. Vietnam 528 9. Poland 526 10. Canada 525

Source: OECD

And the OECD education expert, Mr Schleicher, said it was much too early to use the latest Pisa tests to judge changes in England's school systems which were still in the process of being implemented.

Mr Gove emphasised the importance of such international comparisons.

'Only by learning from other nations and confronting failure at home will we give young people a fighting chance of competing for the jobs of the future,' he said.

But Labour's Labour's Shadow Education Secretary, Tristram Hunt, said the Pisa results were a 'big wake-up call' and evidence of a failure to meet the 'international challenge'.

Mr Hunt said that high performing Asian school systems reflected the 'quality and status of the teaching profession'.

There has already been speculation in Finland that the results will be disappointing, for a country that in the past has been one of the world's top performers.

In these latest tests, China will be represented by high-performing regional administrations such as Shanghai and Hong Kong - but in future years it is expected there will be enough data for a whole-country figure for China.