Ireland remained above the OECD average in science, reading and mathematics in PISA 2025, yet its long-run record now separates into three different paths. Reading remains a relative strength despite a marked fall since 2018, mathematics has moved below the near-500 plateau seen through most earlier cycles, and science has been comparatively stable since 2015.
Ireland’s 2025 scores remain above OECD and EU benchmarks
Science was the major domain in PISA 2025. Reading and mathematics were minor domains, but all three continue their established trend scales.
Ireland’s 2025 advantage over the OECD average was 18 points in science, 39 points in reading and 17 points in mathematics. The EU gaps were 24, 49 and 20 points, respectively. These benchmark gaps describe relative performance in the same cycle; they do not erase the decline in Ireland’s own reading and mathematics scores from earlier cycles.
The full Irish PISA score record, 2000–2025
Trend-comparable reading begins in 2000, mathematics in 2003 and science in 2006.
Ireland’s three PISA score paths diverge after 2018
Mean scores across all trend-comparable PISA cycles
The vertical scale runs from 460 to 540 to make movement on the PISA scale readable; PISA score scales are not ratio scales and do not require a zero baseline.
- The 2009 fall was concentrated in reading and mathematics while science remained at 508. Reading and mathematics then rebounded in 2012.
- After 2018, reading and mathematics moved down in both subsequent cycles. Science moved from 496 in 2018 to 504 in 2022 and 500 in 2025.
Ireland PISA mean scores by cycle
Whole-point values on the linked trend scales; em dashes indicate years before the comparable subject trend begins.
Scroll horizontally to view all columns.
| PISA cycle | Reading | Mathematics | Science | Major domain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 527 | — | — | Reading |
| 2003 | 515 | 503 | — | Mathematics |
| 2006 | 517 | 501 | 508 | Science |
| 2009 | 496 | 487 | 508 | Reading |
| 2012 | 523 | 501 | 522 | Mathematics |
| 2015 | 521 | 504 | 503 | Science |
| 2018 | 518 | 500 | 496 | Reading |
| 2022 | 516 | 492 | 504 | Mathematics |
| 2025 | 500 | 480 | 500 | Science |
Historical values are presented as rounded mean scores. No missing cycle has been interpolated.
The 2009 dip and the post-2018 decline are different patterns
In 2009, Ireland’s reading mean fell to 496 and mathematics to 487, while science stayed at 508. By 2012, reading had returned to 523 and mathematics to 501. Ireland’s PISA 2022 national report later described the 2009 reading and mathematics results as outliers relative to the broader national trends.
The sequence after 2018 is different. Reading moved from 518 to 516 to 500, while mathematics moved from 500 to 492 to 480. The OECD reports the 2025 reading and mathematics means as statistically below Ireland’s 2018 and 2015 results. Science does not show the same break: 496 in 2018, 504 in 2022 and 500 in 2025.
Reading remains Ireland’s largest 2025 OECD advantage, despite a lower national score
Reading began the comparable series at 527 in 2000 and reached 523 in 2012 before easing to 521 in 2015 and 518 in 2018. The 2025 mean of 500 is 27 points below the 2000 starting value and 18 points below 2018, calculated from the rounded OECD-published means. Even after that decline, Ireland remained 39 points above the 2025 OECD reading average and 49 points above the EU average.
Mathematics has moved below its earlier 500-point band
Excluding 2009, Ireland’s mathematics means from 2003 through 2018 stayed in a narrow band from 500 to 504 when rounded to whole points. The 2022 score fell to 492, followed by 480 in 2025. That puts the latest mean about 20 points below 2018 and 24 below the 2015 high of 504.
The 2025 result still exceeded the OECD mathematics average by 17 points. That combination matters: Ireland can remain above the same-cycle international benchmark while performing below its own earlier level.
Science has been steadier since 2015
Science reached its Irish series high of 522 in 2012, then moved to 503 in 2015, 496 in 2018, 504 in 2022 and 500 in 2025. OECD trend reporting describes science performance in Ireland as broadly stable since 2015. The four-point decline from 2022 to 2025 was not statistically significant.
The 2025 proficiency distribution adds a different view of performance
Mean scores show the center of the distribution. Proficiency shares show how many students fall below the baseline or reach the highest levels.
Ireland has smaller low-performing shares, but mathematics has a thinner top tail
PISA 2025 proficiency composition in Ireland and across OECD countries
The Levels 2–4 segment is calculated from published low- and top-performer shares so each bar totals 100%. Reading top performers are reported at Level 5 or above.
Low and top performers in PISA 2025
Percentages refer to the same 2025 student population in each domain.
Scroll horizontally to view all columns.
| Domain | Ireland below Level 2 | OECD below Level 2 | Ireland Levels 5–6 | OECD Levels 5–6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Science | 17.6% | 25.7% | 7.4% | 7.2% |
| Reading | 16.5% | 31.0% | 8.5% | 5.5% |
| Mathematics | 24.2% | 34.9% | 6.1% | 7.8% |
- Ireland’s low-performer share is smaller than the OECD average in all three domains. Mathematics is different at the upper end: its 6.1% top-performer share is below the OECD figure of 7.8% even though Ireland’s mean mathematics score is 17 points above the OECD average.
- Compared with 2015, the share below Level 2 rose by 9 percentage points in mathematics and 6 points in reading, while science showed no statistically significant change. From 2022 to 2025, the 90th-to-10th percentile gap widened in mathematics and reading but did not change statistically in science.
Across the three core domains, 11.2% of students in Ireland were below Level 2 in all three subjects simultaneously, compared with 19.7% across OECD countries. At the other end, 12.7% of Irish students were top performers in at least one of the three domains, close to the OECD average of 11.9%.
Gender and socio-economic gaps add context to the 2025 mean
These measures do not replace the national mean; they show how performance is distributed across major student groups.
Girls led in reading; boys led in mathematics and science
| Domain | Girls | Boys | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science | 496 | 503 | Boys +7 |
| Reading | 510 | 491 | Girls +19 |
| Mathematics | 471 | 488 | Boys +17 |
Science shows a smaller socio-economic gap than the OECD average
Because science was the major domain in 2025, OECD country reporting provides the richest equity detail for science. Ireland’s national top-to-bottom socio-economic quartile gap was 72 score points, compared with an OECD average gap of 85 points.
The 72-point science gap was stable from 2015 to 2025 in Ireland. OECD reporting also indicates that science performance remained broadly stable over that period for both the advantaged and disadvantaged national quartiles.
Computational problem solving is a separate 2025 result, not part of the historical core-domain trend
Ireland scored 511 in the PISA 2025 computational problem-solving assessment, compared with 500 across OECD countries and 492 across the EU. This was part of Learning in the Digital World and was first reported in PISA 2025, so it should not be added to the reading, mathematics or science trend lines or treated as an “overall PISA score.”
What the 25-year record shows
The long-run Irish record separates into three subject paths. Reading is 27 points below its 2000 value but still has Ireland’s largest 2025 margin over the OECD average. Mathematics is 23 points below its 2003 value and has moved well below the narrow band that characterized most cycles through 2018. Science is 8 points below its 2006 value and has remained broadly stable since 2015 despite the higher 2012 result.
The 2025 mean scores therefore describe only part of Ireland’s position. The country continues to have lower shares of students below Level 2 than the OECD average in all three domains, while mathematics has a smaller top-performer share than the OECD average. Reading and mathematics also show a wider high-to-low performance spread than in 2022, whereas science does not show the same distributional movement.
Data basis and trend comparability
Used for Ireland’s 2025 mean scores, proficiency results, recent trend statements, socio-economic indicators, sample coverage and data-quality status.
OECD PISA 2025 Results: IrelandTrend tables I.B1.2a.36–38 provide the linked mean-score series through 2025; adjacent annex tables provide proficiency and score-distribution measures.
OECD PISA 2025 country and economy tablesUsed for Ireland’s OECD and EU benchmark comparisons, exact low- and top-performer shares, gender results and computational problem-solving context.
Educational Research Centre PISA 2025 resultsThe national PISA 2022 report provides historical Irish trend context, including the interpretation of the 2009 reading and mathematics dip and earlier exact-cycle results.
Ireland PISA 2022 national reportIreland has used computer-based PISA administration since 2015. Adaptive testing was introduced for reading in 2018, mathematics in 2022 and science in 2025.
Educational Research Centre PISA program- Trend starting points: reading is compared from 2000, mathematics from 2003 and science from 2006, when each linked scale became established for long-run comparison.
- Cycle timing: PISA is not annual. The assessment planned for 2021 was postponed to 2022, which is why the sequence has a four-year interval after 2018.
- 2025 Ireland sample: 6,356 students in 172 schools completed the assessment, representing about 74,200 15-year-olds, or an estimated 94% of the national 15-year-old population. OECD reports that Ireland met the PISA data-quality standards and was fit for reporting.
- Score interpretation: a country mean is an estimate for the assessed population, not an individual proficiency level. Proficiency shares are reported separately.
- Uncertainty: small differences between cycles or systems are not automatically statistically distinguishable. Statistical comparisons in the text are stated only where the OECD or Irish national reporting supports them.
- No composite score: PISA does not publish an official combined Ireland score across reading, mathematics and science. Each domain is reported on its own scale.