Problem Solving: Percentiles

• Percentile Scores

Percentile Scores

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Table PS3. Cut scores of 15-year-old students on PISA problem solving scale at selected percentiles and percentile cut score gaps, by education system: 2012
Education system	Percentile
	10th			25th			50th			75th			90th			90th to 10th
	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 (PS)	375	1.1		438	0.9		504	0.7		567	0.7		620	0.8		245		1.2
Macao-China	437	3.0		488	1.5		544	1.7		595	1.6		640	2.1		203		3.1
Turkey	354	4.3		399	4.0		451	4.3		508	5.7		560	6.8		206		7.0
Japan	441	5.5		498	3.8		556	3.4		610	3.4		658	3.7		216		5.7
Malaysia	315	4.5		364	4.2		422	4.1		479	4.1		531	5.0		217		5.6
Chile	337	5.5		390	4.8		450	3.8		507	3.5		557	4.2		220		5.7
Portugal	381	4.3		436	4.2		497	4.3		555	3.7		604	4.2		223		4.8
Russian Federation	377	4.8		431	4.0		490	3.5		547	4.1		602	6.1		224		6.6
Estonia	400	4.6		458	3.4		517	2.8		576	3.1		626	3.7		225		4.7
Italy	394	5.8		451	5.2		514	4.9		572	4.5		621	4.6		227		6.6
Korea, Republic of	443	5.9		505	5.1		568	4.5		625	4.6		672	4.4		228		5.6
Shanghai-China	419	5.7		479	3.9		541	3.5		599	3.9		648	4.7		229		7.1
Serbia, Republic of	357	6.1		414	4.3		476	3.8		535	3.4		586	3.4		229		6.4
Chinese Taipei	414	5.1		475	4.1		540	3.3		601	2.9		646	3.2		232		5.4
Colombia	284	4.9		337	4.3		397	3.7		459	4.1		517	5.2		233		6.3
Hong Kong-China	421	6.7		483	5.6		544	4.2		601	3.7		654	4.1		234		6.7
Brazil	311	5.7		368	5.5		429	5.2		490	6.3		545	5.6		234		6.1
Denmark	377	5.2		438	3.8		500	3.3		560	3.3		611	4.5		234		6.3
Montenegro, Republic of	289	3.1		344	2.5		407	2.2		470	2.2		526	3.8		237		4.4
Ireland	378	5.0		438	4.0		501	3.1		562	3.5		615	3.8		237		5.1
Croatia	349	4.9		404	4.0		465	4.2		530	4.6		585	5.1		237		5.9
United States	388	6.0		446	4.9		510	4.2		571	4.1		626	4.4		237		6.3
France	387	6.8		455	4.1		518	3.4		577	3.5		626	3.8		239		7.4
Austria	384	6.8		446	4.6		511	3.8		572	3.7		623	4.4		239		7.3
Finland	401	3.1		462	3.5		526	2.6		587	3.1		640	3.6		239		3.8
Poland	358	6.3		421	5.4		485	4.3		546	4.6		600	4.8		242		6.6
Czech Republic	384	5.7		447	4.5		515	3.7		575	2.9		626	4.0		243		6.6
Singapore	436	2.9		500	2.0		568	2.1		629	1.9		681	2.1		244		3.5
United Kingdom	391	6.0		455	5.7		522	4.8		584	4.1		636	4.5		245		6.2
Sweden	365	4.0		428	3.7		494	3.2		557	2.9		612	3.7		247		4.7
Slovenia	350	3.8		413	3.0		479	2.4		545	2.3		599	2.8		249		4.5
Uruguay	279	5.1		337	4.7		403	3.9		470	3.9		530	4.3		250		6.3
Australia	396	2.7		459	2.4		526	2.3		591	2.2		646	2.3		251		3.0
Canada	398	3.8		462	3.1		530	2.5		594	2.8		649	3.3		251		4.1
Slovak Republic	354	6.2		420	4.8		487	3.9		550	4.2		606	5.2		251		7.8
Germany	377	6.9		444	5.3		516	3.6		579	4.0		629	4.3		252		7.3
Netherlands	378	8.5		448	5.9		517	4.9		581	4.8		633	4.8		256		9.0
Cyprus	315	2.8		378	2.4		447	1.8		513	2.7		571	2.8		256		4.0
Norway	370	4.9		436	3.9		507	3.5		574	3.8		633	4.3		262		5.8
Spain	338	7.8		411	5.3		483	3.8		549	3.9		605	4.3		267		7.8
United Arab Emirates	277	5.3		342	3.6		411	2.9		482	3.1		546	3.3		269		5.7
Hungary	319	8.8		391	6.1		465	4.4		532	5.4		591	5.5		272		9.5
Bulgaria	263	8.6		331	6.1		405	5.5		476	5.3		535	7.1		272		10.2
Belgium	364	4.8		441	3.4		518	2.7		583	2.6		637	2.5		272		5.3
Israel	291	7.8		372	6.2		460	6.4		543	6.2		611	6.7		320		8.8
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 (PS) is the average of the national percentages of the 28 OECD member countries that participated in the problem solving (PS) assessment, with each country weighted equally. The following OECD countries did not participate in the problem solving assessment: Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, and Switzerland. 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. SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2012.