Mathematics Literacy: Percentiles

• Percentile Scores

Percentile Scores

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Table M7. Cut scores of 15-year-old students on PISA mathematics literacy scale at selected percentiles and percentile cut score gaps, by education system: 2012
	Percentile
	10th			25th			50th			75th			90th			90th to 10th
Education system	Cut score	s.e.		Cut score	s.e.		Cut score	s.e.		Cut score	s.e.		Cut score	s.e.		Cut score gap		s.e.
OECD average	375	0.7		430	0.6		494	0.6		558	0.6		614	0.7		239		1.0
Costa Rica	323	3.8		361	3.6		403	3.1		449	3.9		496	5.1		172		6.4
Indonesia	288	4.2		327	3.8		370	3.6		418	5.2		469	7.8		181		8.8
Kazakhstan	343	2.5		383	2.8		429	3.1		478	4.4		527	5.7		183		6.2
Colombia	285	4.0		326	2.8		373	2.9		423	3.6		474	4.8		189		6.3
Mexico	320	1.9		362	1.6		411	1.6		462	1.7		510	2.0		191		2.7
Jordan	290	4.0		335	3.2		383	3.1		435	3.3		485	4.3		195		5.8
Argentina	292	4.6		337	3.8		388	4.2		440	4.5		488	4.1		196		6.2
Tunisia	292	4.3		334	3.7		384	3.8		437	4.5		488	7.3		196		8.5
Brazil	298	2.0		337	1.9		385	2.0		440	2.7		495	4.5		197		4.9
Thailand	328	3.1		372	2.6		421	3.3		476	4.8		535	7.3		207		7.9
Estonia	417	3.0		465	2.7		519	2.6		576	2.7		626	3.2		209		4.4
Romania	344	3.5		386	3.8		439	4.0		497	4.8		553	6.1		209		7.1
Chile	323	3.7		365	3.5		417	3.4		476	4.2		532	4.2		209		5.6
Malaysia	319	3.2		363	3.1		417	3.4		474	4.3		530	4.9		211		5.9
Latvia	387	4.4		434	3.3		489	3.4		546	3.8		597	3.7		211		5.8
Denmark	393	4.0		444	3.3		501	2.7		556	2.7		607	3.1		214		5.1
Montenegro, Republic of	306	2.0		352	1.7		406	2.1		465	2.0		520	2.7		214		3.4
Peru	264	3.4		311	3.6		364	3.8		421	4.9		478	6.7		214		7.5
Ireland	391	3.6		445	3.2		503	2.9		559	2.4		610	2.5		219		4.4
Finland	409	3.3		463	2.5		520	2.4		577	2.4		629	3.1		219		4.5
Vietnam	401	7.4		454	5.3		510	5.0		568	5.5		623	6.8		222		10.1
Russian Federation	371	3.9		423	3.1		481	3.3		540	3.6		595	4.7		224		6.1
Spain	370	3.1		424	2.6		486	2.3		546	2.1		597	2.4		228		3.9
Greece	338	3.8		393	3.6		453	3.2		513	2.8		567	3.1		228		4.9
Uruguay	297	4.1		347	3.0		407	3.2		470	3.6		526	3.8		228		5.6
Croatia	360	3.3		408	3.6		468	3.5		531	4.5		589	7.3		229		8.0
Norway	373	3.9		428	2.9		490	2.9		552	3.3		604	3.4		231		5.2
Canada	402	2.4		457	2.1		518	2.2		580	2.3		633	2.3		231		3.3
Albania	278	4.8		338	3.0		397	2.3		454	2.4		510	3.5		231		5.9
United Arab Emirates	323	2.5		370	2.9		429	2.8		494	2.9		555	3.9		232		4.6
Lithuania	364	3.5		418	3.1		478	3.2		540	3.3		596	3.5		232		4.9
Serbia, Republic of	335	4.1		386	3.7		445	3.6		508	4.4		567	5.8		233		7.1
United States	368	3.9		418	3.7		477	4.0		543	4.4		600	4.3		233		5.8
Poland	402	2.8		454	3.3		514	3.8		580	4.9		636	6.0		234		6.7
Sweden	360	3.5		415	2.9		478	2.6		543	2.7		596	2.9		236		4.6
Turkey	339	3.3		382	3.6		438	4.8		507	8.0		577	9.7		238		10.3
Iceland	372	2.8		431	2.6		494	2.3		557	3.0		612	3.3		239		4.3
Austria	384	3.9		440	3.2		506	3.3		572	3.5		624	3.8		240		5.5
Cyprus	320	2.6		376	1.6		439	1.7		503	2.0		561	2.1		240		3.3
Slovenia	384	2.5		434	2.0		498	2.2		566	2.1		624	2.9		240		3.8
Italy	366	2.2		421	2.3		485	2.4		550	2.7		607	3.0		241		3.7
Macao-China	415	2.8		476	1.7		542	1.7		605	1.7		657	2.3		242		3.7
Netherlands	397	5.5		457	5.1		529	4.7		591	4.3		638	3.7		242		6.6
Japan	415	5.1		473	4.2		538	3.9		603	4.4		657	5.1		242		7.2
Switzerland	408	3.3		466	3.4		534	3.5		597	3.6		651	4.3		243		5.4
Czech Republic	377	4.9		432	3.9		500	3.4		566	3.3		621	3.6		244		6.1
Hungary	358	4.2		411	3.3		474	3.6		540	4.8		603	6.4		245		7.6
United Kingdom	371	5.0		429	4.2		495	3.5		560	3.7		616	4.1		245		6.5
Bulgaria	320	4.8		372	4.7		436	4.4		503	5.2		565	5.6		245		7.4
Portugal	363	4.2		421	5.0		488	4.7		554	4.3		610	3.9		247		5.8
Australia	382	2.3		437	2.0		503	1.9		571	2.3		630	3.0		249		3.8
Hong Kong-China	430	6.2		499	4.7		569	3.8		629	3.5		679	4.2		249		7.5
Luxembourg	363	3.0		422	1.5		491	1.7		558	1.6		613	2.2		250		3.7
Germany	385	4.7		447	3.6		516	3.3		583	3.6		637	3.8		252		6.0
Liechtenstein	403	11.2		470	8.0		540	5.9		606	5.0		656	9.2		253		14.5
Korea, Republic of	425	5.8		486	4.8		557	4.8		624	5.1		679	6.0		254		8.3
France	365	4.7		429	2.7		497	2.9		565	3.4		621	3.5		256		5.8
Qatar	257	1.7		306	1.3		365	1.1		440	1.7		514	1.9		257		2.5
New Zealand	371	3.6		428	3.2		499	2.8		570	2.8		632	3.0		261		4.7
Slovak Republic	352	6.2		413	4.2		481	3.8		553	4.7		613	5.3		261		8.1
Shanghai-China	475	5.8		546	4.4		622	3.7		685	3.5		737	3.5		262		6.7
Belgium	378	3.9		443	3.4		518	2.6		589	2.8		646	2.5		268		4.6
Israel	328	5.7		393	5.1		468	5.2		541	5.3		603	6.0		275		8.2
Singapore	432	3.6		501	2.7		579	2.5		650	1.9		707	2.3		275		4.3
Chinese Taipei	402	4.8		478	4.8		567	4.2		645	3.4		703	4.9		301		6.9
U.S. state education systems
Florida	359	7.3		406	6.2		464	7.0		524	6.8		581	8.9		222		11.5
Massachusetts	387	4.8		445	6.3		512	7.1		583	9.7		643	9.4		255		10.6
Connecticut	376	7.1		435	9.0		506	6.8		577	8.0		636	8.3		260		10.9
Cut score gap is larger than the U.S. percentile cut score gap. Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap. NOTE: This table shows the threshold (or cut) scores for the following: (a) 10th percentile- the bottom 10 percent of students; (b) 25th percentile- the bottom 25 percent of students; (c) 50th percentile- the median (half the students scored below the cut score and half scored above it); (d) 75th percentile- the top 25 percent of students; (e) 90th percentile- the top 10 percent of students. The percentile ranges are specific to each education system's distribution of scores, enabling users to compare cut scores across education systems. Education systems are ordered by cut score gap. The OECD average is the average of the national averages of the OECD member countries, with each country weighted equally. Scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. Standard error is noted by s.e. Italics indicate non-OECD countries and education systems. Results for Connecticut, Florida, and Massachusetts are for public school students only. SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2012.