Skip Navigation
IES    
NCES
National Center for
Education Statistics
Menu
Contact
Tools
ED.gov
Newsflash
Search IES
Skip Navigation
IES    
NCES
National Center for
Education Statistics
Menu
Contact
Tools
ED.gov
Newsflash
Search IES
  1. PISA
  2. PISA Results
  3. PISA Past Results
  4. PISA 2015 Results
  5. Science Literacy: Average Scores

Science Literacy: Average Scores

PISA 2015 Results

Overall

Excel File Excel Download

Table S1. Average scores of 15-year-old students on the PISA science literacy scale, by education system: 2015
Education system Average score s.e.   Education system Average score s.e.
OECD average 493   0.4   Iceland 473 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 1.7
Singapore 556 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 1.2   Israel 467 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 3.4
Japan 538 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 3.0   Malta 465 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 1.6
Estonia 534 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.1   Slovak Republic 461 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.6
Chinese Taipei 532 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.7   Greece 455 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 3.9
Finland 531 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.4   Chile 447 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.4
Macau (China) 529 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 1.1   Bulgaria 446 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 4.4
Canada 528 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.1   United Arab Emirates 437 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.4
Vietnam 525 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 3.9   Uruguay 435 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.2
Hong Kong (China) 523 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.5   Romania 435 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 3.2
B-S-J-G (China) 518 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 4.6   Cyprus 433 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 1.4
Korea, Republic of 516 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 3.1   Moldova, Republic of 428 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.0
New Zealand 513 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.4   Albania 427 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 3.3
Slovenia 513 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 1.3   Turkey 425 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 3.9
Australia 510 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 1.5   Trinidad and Tobago 425 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 1.4
United Kingdom 509 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.6   Thailand 421 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.8
Germany 509 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.7   Costa Rica 420 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.1
Netherlands 509 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.3   Qatar 418 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 1.0
Switzerland 506 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.9   Colombia 416 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.4
Ireland 503   2.4   Mexico 416 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.1
Belgium 502   2.3   Montenegro, Republic of 411 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 1.0
Denmark 502   2.4   Georgia 411 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.4
Poland 501   2.5   Jordan 409 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.7
Portugal 501   2.4   Indonesia 403 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.6
Norway 498   2.3   Brazil 401 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.3
United States 496   3.2   Peru 397 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.4
Austria 495   2.4   Lebanon 386 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 3.4
France 495   2.1   Tunisia 386 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.1
Sweden 493   3.6   Macedonia, Republic of 384 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 1.2
Czech Republic 493   2.3   Kosovo 378 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 1.7
Spain 493   2.1   Algeria 376 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.6
Latvia 490   1.6   Dominican Republic 332 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.6
Russian Federation 487 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.9          
Luxembourg 483 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 1.1          
Italy 481 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.5          
Hungary 477 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.4   U.S. states and territories      
Lithuania 475 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.7   Massachusetts 529 Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 6.6
Croatia 475 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 2.5   North Carolina 502   4.9
Buenos Aires (Argentina) 475 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 6.3   Puerto Rico 403 Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. 6.1
Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. Average score is higher than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance.
Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance. Average score is lower than U.S. average score at the .05 level of statistical significance.
NOTE: Education systems are ordered by 2015 average score. 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. All average scores reported as higher or lower than the U.S. average score are different at the .05 level of statistical significance. Italics indicate non-OECD countries and education systems. B-S-J-G (China) refers to the four PISA participating China provinces: Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Guangdong. Results for Massachusetts and North Carolina are for public school students only. Although Argentina, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan participated in PISA 2015, technical problems with their samples prevent results from being discussed in this report. This table corresponds to table 1 in Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Science, Mathematics, and Reading Literacy in an International Context (NCES 2017-048).
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2015.
IES    
NCES
National Center for
Education Statistics
Explore the Institute of Education Sciences