Program for International Student Assessment (PISA): 2015 Results

Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)

Science Literacy: Proficiency Levels

Overall High and Low Performers Content Subscales Process Subscales

Content Subscales

Table S5. Percentage distribution of 15-year-old students on the PISA science literacy content subscales, by proficiency level and education system: 2015—Continued (NOTE: this is a 3-part table. See Part 1 \| Part 2)
	Earth and Space
Education system	Below level 1a			Level 1a		Level 2		Level 3		Level 4			Level 5			Level 6
Education system	Percent		*s.e.*	Percent	*s.e.*	Percent	*s.e.*	Percent	*s.e.*	Percent		*s.e.*	Percent		*s.e.*	Percent		*s.e.*
OECD average	6.4		0.11	15.1	0.13	24.1	0.15	26.8	0.16	19.1		0.14	7.2		0.09	1.4		0.04
Albania	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†
Algeria	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†
Australia	5.3		0.38	12.6	0.56	21.7	0.58	27.6	0.71	21.7		0.72	9.1		0.48	2.1		0.28
Austria	5.9		0.54	14.9	0.77	23.2	0.81	27.2	0.95	20.0		0.99	7.5		0.56	1.3		0.25
B-S-J-G (China)	5.7		0.82	11.8	0.79	20.4	1.02	24.6	1.04	22.6		1.11	11.9		1.00	3.0		0.62
Belgium	5.9		0.56	13.6	0.66	21.8	0.60	26.6	0.68	22.5		0.66	8.5		0.46	1.2		0.22
Brazil	28.4		1.24	29.3	0.65	23.7	0.88	13.0	0.58	4.6		0.43	0.9		0.17	#	!	†
Buenos Aires (Argentina)	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†
Bulgaria	16.3		1.44	20.5	1.09	24.1	1.05	22.6	1.15	12.7		0.99	3.4		0.48	#	!	†
Canada	2.3		0.27	8.8	0.43	19.9	0.63	29.7	0.65	25.9		0.65	10.9		0.63	2.4		0.25
Chile	11.2		0.80	23.8	0.90	30.4	0.90	23.3	0.80	9.8		0.64	1.4		0.24	‡		†
Chinese Taipei	3.6		0.41	9.4	0.66	17.5	0.61	26.6	0.91	26.1		0.95	13.6		0.83	3.3		0.61
Colombia	19.0		1.15	31.4	0.81	29.8	1.02	15.5	0.73	4.0		0.35	#	!	†	‡		†
Costa Rica	12.6		0.83	33.8	1.11	34.9	0.88	15.4	0.87	3.0		0.37	#	!	†	‡		†
Croatia	6.2		0.68	18.0	0.89	28.4	0.82	27.7	0.89	15.5		0.87	3.8		0.43	0.5		0.14
Cyprus	18.4		0.72	24.5	0.87	26.4	0.92	19.5	0.72	8.8		0.54	2.1		0.29	#	!	†
Czech Republic	5.5		0.64	15.3	0.83	25.3	0.83	27.6	0.89	18.3		0.70	6.8		0.50	1.2		0.21
Denmark	3.6		0.35	11.9	0.72	24.4	0.83	31.5	0.98	21.2		1.05	6.5		0.51	0.9		0.21
Dominican Republic	56.1		1.71	26.8	1.24	12.9	0.95	3.6	0.50	#	!	†	‡		†	‡		†
Estonia	1.8		0.33	7.4	0.53	19.1	0.70	28.5	0.76	27.0		0.79	13.0		0.59	3.2		0.41
Finland	3.5		0.42	8.9	0.55	18.2	0.80	26.8	0.69	25.8		0.84	13.1		0.62	3.7		0.46
France	8.1		0.70	14.5	0.75	21.4	0.81	25.6	0.75	20.8		0.92	8.3		0.69	1.4		0.21
Georgia	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†
Germany	4.5		0.62	12.3	0.69	22.1	0.89	27.3	0.76	21.7		0.80	9.7		0.69	2.3		0.33
Greece	12.6		1.32	21.3	1.08	27.0	1.22	24.6	0.96	11.8		0.81	2.5		0.39	#	!	†
Hong Kong (China)	2.3		0.39	8.1	0.62	19.8	0.84	33.9	0.88	27.1		0.95	8.0		0.57	0.8		0.22
Hungary	8.9		0.71	17.2	0.88	25.2	0.95	26.9	0.91	16.6		0.79	4.8		0.50	0.5		0.12
Iceland	8.2		0.60	18.9	0.91	28.7	0.98	26.5	1.03	13.9		0.74	3.5		0.49	#	!	†
Indonesia	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†
Ireland	3.5		0.46	12.4	0.72	25.8	0.76	30.9	0.84	20.1		0.85	6.4		0.55	0.9		0.15
Israel	14.4		0.98	19.8	0.94	24.1	1.00	22.5	1.00	13.8		0.84	4.6		0.44	0.7		0.19
Italy	6.5		0.60	15.9	0.77	25.7	0.91	28.4	0.97	17.9		0.82	5.0		0.48	0.6		0.13
Japan	2.1		0.42	7.2	0.64	17.3	0.88	28.2	0.96	28.8		0.93	13.6		0.84	2.8		0.50
Jordan	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†
Korea, Republic of	3.3		0.43	10.1	0.71	20.7	0.87	29.0	1.07	24.5		0.88	10.5		0.76	1.9		0.35
Kosovo	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†
Latvia	3.4		0.48	14.1	0.67	28.0	1.05	31.4	1.18	18.1		0.74	4.6		0.39	#	!	†
Lebanon	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†
Lithuania	8.0		0.63	19.0	0.86	28.2	1.05	25.6	0.94	14.4		0.69	4.3		0.47	#	!	†
Luxembourg	7.4		0.63	18.3	0.78	25.0	0.80	24.7	0.70	17.3		0.54	6.2		0.55	1.1		0.24
Macau (China)	1.1		0.19	6.4	0.45	19.3	0.75	33.8	1.06	29.1		0.85	9.4		0.63	1.0		0.19
Macedonia, Republic of	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†
Malta	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†
Mexico	14.0		0.87	31.8	0.99	33.8	0.86	17.0	0.93	3.2		0.43	#	!	†	‡		†
Moldova, Republic of	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†
Montenegro, Republic of	21.8		0.86	28.8	1.01	27.3	1.02	16.1	0.72	5.2		0.59	0.8		0.18	‡		†
Netherlands	5.0		0.58	13.2	0.79	20.8	0.85	25.5	1.15	22.5		1.02	10.6		0.60	2.4		0.33
New Zealand	4.3		0.43	12.9	0.84	22.2	0.82	26.2	0.99	21.8		0.92	9.8		0.58	2.8		0.37
Norway	5.8		0.41	13.6	0.67	23.6	0.87	28.1	0.87	19.8		0.75	7.5		0.58	1.5		0.24
Peru	24.5		1.27	33.8	0.87	27.7	1.02	11.5	0.75	2.3		0.36	‡		†	‡		†
Poland	3.8		0.47	13.5	0.82	25.9	0.94	29.0	0.98	19.9		0.88	6.8		0.55	1.1		0.24
Portugal	4.6		0.49	14.0	0.80	24.6	0.92	28.0	0.90	20.3		0.88	7.3		0.58	1.1		0.26
Qatar	26.9		0.67	24.9	0.75	22.8	0.66	15.8	0.49	7.5		0.30	1.9		0.20	#	!	†
Romania	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†
Russian Federation	3.9		0.50	14.9	1.01	29.1	0.92	30.0	1.09	17.3		0.95	4.3		0.57	0.4		0.12
Singapore	2.8		0.23	7.9	0.44	15.2	0.60	23.1	0.78	26.4		0.71	17.9		0.68	6.7		0.54
Slovak Republic	12.5		0.85	18.9	0.77	27.0	0.83	25.0	0.83	13.1		0.75	3.2		0.37	#	!	†
Slovenia	3.6		0.41	11.7	0.54	22.6	0.72	28.6	0.85	22.4		0.84	9.5		0.52	1.7		0.31
Spain	4.5		0.56	13.2	0.67	25.2	0.81	31.6	0.89	19.8		0.92	5.3		0.57	0.5		0.12
Sweden	8.2		0.71	14.1	0.94	22.4	0.88	25.7	0.79	19.2		0.84	8.4		0.69	2.1		0.39
Switzerland	4.8		0.60	13.2	0.81	22.5	0.89	26.4	1.21	22.2		0.95	9.4		0.78	1.6		0.23
Thailand	17.2		1.14	31.1	1.15	30.7	0.94	15.5	0.86	4.9		0.62	#	!	†	‡		†
Trinidad and Tobago	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†
Tunisia	#	!	†	39.8	1.17	26.3	1.13	8.3	0.77	1.4		0.42	‡		†	‡		†
Turkey	15.5		1.31	29.9	1.38	31.0	1.29	18.5	1.37	4.6		0.82	#	!	†	‡		†
United Arab Emirates	17.3		0.89	24.6	0.87	26.0	0.78	19.2	0.76	9.8		0.60	2.7		0.28	0.3		0.07
United Kingdom	4.7		0.45	13.1	0.67	22.1	0.81	27.1	0.98	21.4		0.82	9.5		0.58	2.2		0.31
United States	4.8		*0.53*	15.1	*0.78*	25.4	*1.01*	27.3	*0.95*	19.3		*0.89*	7.0		*0.70*	1.1		*0.25*
Uruguay	14.8		0.82	26.3	0.80	29.0	0.99	20.2	0.80	8.2		0.55	1.4		0.26	‡		†
Vietnam	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†

U.S. states and territories
Massachusetts	2.4		0.55	8.8	1.17	19.7	1.79	30.6	1.64	25.5		2.01	10.6		1.51	2.4		0.69
North Carolina	3.9		0.68	13.5	1.26	25.4	1.80	28.2	1.68	20.7		1.56	7.3		0.99	#	!	†
Puerto Rico	—		†	—	†	—	†	—	†	—		†	—		†	—		†

― Not available.
† Not applicable.
# Rounds to zero.
! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable due to high coefficient of variation (>30 percent and ≤50 percent).
‡ Reporting standards not met due to coefficient of variation over 50 percent.
NOTE: To reach a particular proficiency level, a student must correctly answer a majority of items at that level. Students were classified into science literacy levels according to their content subscale scores. Exact cut scores are as follows: Below
level 1a (a score less than 334.94); level 1a (a score greater than 334.94 and less than or equal to 409.54); level 2 (a score greater than 409.54 and less than or equal to 484.14); level 3 (a score greater than 484.14 and less than or equal to 558.73); level 4 (a score greater than 558.73 and less than or equal to 633.33); level 5 (a score greater than 633.33 and less than or equal to 707.93); and level 6 (a score greater than 707.93). For the science subscales, there is no proficiency level 1b because there were too few items at this level to calculate reliable subscale estimates. Scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. The OECD average is the average of the national percentages of the OECD member countries, with each country weighted equally. Standard error is noted by s.e. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. 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.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2015.