Reading Literacy: Proficiency Levels


Overall High and Low Performers

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Table R2. Percentage distribution of 15-year-old students on the PISA reading literacy scale, by proficiency level and education system: 2015
Education system Below
level 1b		   Level 1b   Level 1a   Level 2   Level 3   Level 4   Level 5   Level 6
Percent   s.e.   Percent   s.e.   Percent   s.e.   Percent   s.e.   Percent   s.e.   Percent s.e.   Percent s.e.   Percent s.e.
OECD average 1.3   0.04   5.2   0.09   13.6   0.13   23.2   0.15   27.9   0.15   20.5   0.14   7.2   0.09   1.1   0.04
Albania 7.4   0.70   15.9   1.06   27.0   1.25   27.3   1.08   16.3   1.05   5.1   0.68   0.9   0.21   ‡   †
Algeria 11.0   1.02   31.2   1.17   36.8   1.20   17.0   1.23   3.7   0.55   0.3   0.12   ‡   †   #   †
Australia 1.2   0.16   4.8   0.24   12.0   0.47   21.4   0.63   27.5   0.58   22.0   0.58   9.0   0.46   2.0   0.20
Austria 1.7   0.25   6.5   0.67   14.3   0.76   23.5   0.86   27.0   1.07   19.7   0.74   6.4   0.52   0.8   0.18
B-S-J-G (China) 2.1   0.44   6.2   0.64   13.5   0.84   20.9   1.06   25.4   1.11   20.9   1.19   9.1   0.97   1.8   0.45
Belgium 1.0   0.20   5.3   0.39   13.2   0.62   21.1   0.68   26.8   0.77   23.2   0.68   8.4   0.50   1.0   0.16
Brazil 7.1   0.47   17.4   0.65   26.5   0.61   25.0   0.66   16.2   0.57   6.4   0.46   1.3   0.21   ‡   †
Buenos Aires (Argentina) 1.5   0.54   5.8   1.09   14.5   1.66   28.2   2.10   30.1   1.98   16.2   2.03   3.5   1.00   ‡   †
Bulgaria 7.7   0.93   14.3   1.16   19.5   0.98   22.0   1.04   21.2   1.26   11.7   0.97   3.2   0.40   0.4 ! 0.13
Canada 0.4   0.10   2.1   0.26   8.2   0.46   19.0   0.55   29.7   0.69   26.6   0.68   11.6   0.58   2.4   0.29
Chile 1.3   0.29   7.4   0.59   19.8   0.86   29.9   1.22   27.0   0.89   12.4   0.78   2.2   0.28   0.1 ! 0.05
Chinese Taipei 1.0   0.16   4.4   0.37   11.8   0.59   22.4   0.77   31.3   1.00   22.1   0.86   6.3   0.66   0.6   0.19
Colombia 3.2   0.47   13.6   1.00   26.1   0.95   29.2   0.92   19.9   0.93   7.0   0.51   0.9   0.17   ‡   †
Costa Rica 1.7   0.28   10.3   0.72   28.3   1.00   34.6   1.04   19.2   1.05   5.2   0.57   0.6   0.17   ‡   †
Croatia 0.6   0.14   4.5   0.45   14.8   0.86   26.6   0.91   28.6   0.99   19.0   0.93   5.4   0.55   0.5   0.14
Cyprus 4.4   0.38   11.4   0.56   19.8   0.96   27.0   0.73   23.0   0.84   11.3   0.58   2.8   0.33   0.2 ! 0.09
Czech Republic 1.3   0.28   6.0   0.62   14.7   0.69   23.3   0.80   27.5   1.01   19.3   0.90   6.9   0.49   1.0   0.16
Denmark 0.5   0.14   3.3   0.35   11.2   0.65   24.1   0.84   32.4   0.76   22.0   0.85   5.9   0.56   0.6 ! 0.17
Dominican Republic 13.1   1.06   28.2   1.24   30.8   1.23   19.5   1.06   7.0   0.72   1.3   0.29   ‡   †   #   †
Estonia ‡   †   2.1   0.31   8.4   0.66   21.6   0.73   31.4   0.86   25.4   0.95   9.7   0.61   1.4   0.24
Finland 0.6   0.15   2.6   0.31   7.8   0.52   17.6   0.77   29.7   0.91   27.9   0.96   11.7   0.62   2.0   0.26
France 2.3   0.43   6.5   0.57   12.7   0.52   19.0   0.80   24.5   0.91   22.5   0.79   10.5   0.68   2.0   0.23
Georgia 9.5   0.65   16.4   0.80   25.8   0.80   25.4   0.91   16.1   0.76   5.7   0.54   1.1   0.21   ‡   †
Germany 0.9   0.20   4.1   0.46   11.2   0.69   21.0   0.97   27.6   0.91   23.5   0.85   9.7   0.65   1.9   0.29
Greece 2.3   0.51   7.8   0.96   17.2   0.96   25.3   0.97   27.2   1.08   16.1   0.92   3.8   0.45   0.3 ! 0.09
Hong Kong (China) 0.3   0.12   2.0   0.28   7.0   0.61   18.1   0.93   32.1   1.07   29.0   0.97   10.4   0.82   1.1   0.21
Hungary 1.4   0.29   8.1   0.78   18.0   0.92   24.5   0.85   27.0   1.01   16.8   0.75   3.9   0.40   0.4 ! 0.11
Iceland 1.8   0.32   6.0   0.52   14.3   0.90   26.0   1.09   27.3   0.93   18.0   0.75   5.8   0.54   0.8 ! 0.24
Indonesia 3.8   0.65   16.8   1.07   34.8   1.05   30.9   1.13   11.7   0.78   1.9   0.32   ‡   †   ‡   †
Ireland ‡   †   1.7   0.30   8.3   0.67   21.0   0.87   31.8   1.06   26.4   0.78   9.4   0.58   1.3   0.23
Israel 3.3   0.47   8.1   0.65   15.2   0.83   21.7   0.97   24.0   0.85   18.5   0.89   7.7   0.64   1.4   0.25
Italy 1.0   0.24   5.4   0.45   14.5   0.77   25.4   0.95   28.8   0.81   19.2   0.86   5.1   0.41   0.6   0.15
Japan 0.6   0.18   3.0   0.40   9.2   0.67   19.8   0.92   30.5   0.87   26.0   1.02   9.5   0.81   1.3   0.25
Jordan 7.4   0.70   13.7   0.76   25.2   0.92   30.7   0.76   18.7   0.94   4.1   0.39   0.3 ! 0.10   ‡   †
Korea, Republic of 0.7   0.19   3.4   0.48   9.5   0.72   19.3   0.95   28.9   1.03   25.5   1.16   10.8   0.83   1.9   0.31
Kosovo 14.6   0.74   28.0   0.95   34.2   1.13   19.4   0.93   3.6   0.43   ‡   †   #   †   #   †
Latvia 0.4   0.17   3.8   0.40   13.4   0.78   27.2   0.83   32.1   0.88   18.7   0.82   4.0   0.44   0.3 ! 0.13
Lebanon 24.1   1.51   24.5   1.32   21.7   1.11   15.8   1.00   9.4   0.85   3.6   0.49   0.7 ! 0.25   ‡   †
Lithuania 1.3   0.24   6.7   0.51   17.1   0.72   27.1   0.81   26.7   0.91   16.7   0.90   4.1   0.46   0.4   0.11
Luxembourg 1.9   0.28   7.8   0.49   15.9   0.67   22.0   0.84   24.7   0.65   19.4   0.73   7.0   0.39   1.2   0.19
Macau (China) 0.3   0.10   2.1   0.26   9.3   0.50   23.1   0.83   34.2   0.91   24.4   0.87   6.2   0.53   0.5   0.14
Macedonia, Republic of 18.8   0.68   24.1   0.82   27.7   0.91   19.3   0.76   8.1   0.56   1.7   0.24   ‡   †   ‡   †
Malta 7.5   0.48   11.1   0.75   17.0   0.93   22.5   0.84   22.5   0.84   13.9   0.71   4.7   0.45   0.9   0.24
Mexico 2.0   0.29   11.4   0.79   28.4   0.90   34.2   1.00   19.5   0.91   4.2   0.51   0.3 ! 0.12   ‡   †
Moldova, Republic of 5.9   0.47   14.7   0.68   25.1   0.92   27.7   0.85   18.7   0.76   6.6   0.56   1.1   0.21   ‡   †
Montenegro, Republic of 4.1   0.32   13.0   0.66   24.9   0.81   28.6   0.74   20.2   0.58   7.9   0.45   1.3   0.27   ‡   †
Netherlands 1.1   0.20   4.4   0.45   12.6   0.80   21.8   0.88   26.6   1.05   22.7   0.79   9.5   0.58   1.4   0.28
New Zealand 1.0   0.18   4.8   0.55   11.5   0.71   20.6   0.74   26.5   0.93   22.0   0.91   11.0   0.73   2.6   0.37
Norway 0.8   0.18   3.6   0.39   10.6   0.60   20.4   0.74   28.5   0.79   23.9   0.83   10.1   0.61   2.1   0.36
Peru 6.4   0.57   19.2   0.95   28.3   1.13   27.3   0.91   15.0   0.81   3.5   0.50   0.3 ! 0.10   ‡   †
Poland 0.5   0.17   3.2   0.41   10.8   0.64   22.5   0.84   31.4   0.82   23.5   0.88   7.5   0.63   0.7   0.20
Portugal 0.6   0.13   3.9   0.39   12.7   0.67   23.2   0.83   30.2   0.92   21.9   0.98   6.9   0.59   0.6   0.18
Qatar 11.1   0.32   17.7   0.44   22.8   0.61   22.7   0.50   16.8   0.49   7.4   0.33   1.4   0.16   0.1 ! 0.04
Romania 3.7   0.55   11.6   0.88   23.4   1.19   29.5   1.18   21.3   1.23   8.4   0.85   1.8   0.37   0.2 ! 0.07
Russian Federation 0.3   0.10   3.2   0.42   12.8   0.99   27.1   0.98   30.7   1.12   19.3   1.00   5.9   0.59   0.8   0.17
Singapore 0.3   0.12   2.5   0.24   8.3   0.42   16.9   0.54   26.2   0.74   27.4   0.73   14.7   0.66   3.6   0.35
Slovak Republic 4.4   0.53   9.4   0.57   18.3   0.79   25.7   0.78   24.8   0.88   14.0   0.65   3.2   0.37   0.2 ! 0.11
Slovenia 0.5   0.10   3.4   0.34   11.2   0.52   22.5   0.90   30.3   0.89   23.1   0.78   8.0   0.68   1.0 ! 0.36
Spain 0.7   0.16   3.5   0.37   12.0   0.69   24.4   0.80   32.3   0.97   21.6   0.85   5.1   0.51   0.4   0.10
Sweden 1.5   0.28   4.8   0.46   12.2   0.84   21.7   0.84   27.5   0.77   22.5   0.98   8.5   0.74   1.5   0.28
Switzerland 1.2   0.26   5.2   0.56   13.5   0.74   23.2   0.87   28.1   0.96   20.9   0.94   6.9   0.60   0.9   0.20
Thailand 2.8   0.43   15.1   1.07   32.1   1.03   31.1   0.97   15.0   0.98   3.7   0.54   0.3 ! 0.12   ‡   †
Trinidad and Tobago 5.7   0.52   14.3   0.67   22.5   0.85   25.6   1.00   20.3   0.88   9.2   0.63   2.2   0.30   0.2   0.09
Tunisia 11.1   1.13   26.6   1.08   33.9   1.17   21.0   1.10   6.5   0.59   0.8   0.22   ‡   †   #   †
Turkey 2.3   0.32   10.9   0.96   26.8   1.38   32.6   1.48   21.1   1.41   5.7   0.88   0.6 ! 0.22   ‡   †
United Arab Emirates 5.4   0.44   13.2   0.65   21.8   0.67   25.4   0.63   20.5   0.79   10.7   0.60   2.7   0.31   0.3   0.08
United Kingdom 0.8   0.16   4.0   0.37   13.1   0.70   24.3   0.85   28.4   0.73   20.3   0.75   7.7   0.51   1.5   0.22
United States 1.1   0.24   4.8   0.53   13.0   0.77   22.9   0.90   28.0   0.95   20.5   0.87   8.2   0.64   1.4   0.23
Uruguay 3.0   0.33   12.5   0.74   23.5   0.84   27.8   0.81   21.3   0.84   9.3   0.58   2.3   0.37   0.2 ! 0.09
Vietnam ‡   †   1.7   0.38   12.1   1.32   32.5   1.47   35.2   1.33   15.8   1.19   2.5   0.65   ‡   †
                                                               
U.S. states and territories                                                              
Massachusetts 0.5   0.22   2.3   0.52   8.5   1.15   17.9   1.56   29.7   1.58   26.7   1.78   11.9   1.51   2.5   0.61
North Carolina 0.6   0.28   3.8   0.66   13.6   1.24   23.4   1.63   28.0   1.51   21.0   1.79   8.5   0.99   1.2 ! 0.35
Puerto Rico 5.8   1.37   16.6   2.25   28.0   1.84   25.8   1.97   16.4   1.83   6.2   1.23   1.1 ! 0.38   ‡   †
† 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 reading literacy levels according to their scores. Exact cut scores are as follows: below level 1b (a score less than or equal to 262.04); level 1b (a score greater than 262.04 and less than or equal to 334.75); level 1a (a score greater than 334.75 and less than or equal to 407.47); level 2 (a score greater than 407.47 and less than or equal to 480.18); level 3 (a score greater than 480.18 and less than or equal to 552.89); level 4 (a score greater than 552.89 and less than or equal to 625.61); level 5 (a score greater than 625.61 and less than or equal to 698.32); and level 6 (a score greater than 698.32). 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.