(PISA) What is the story behind this trend in Social Media today?
08-09-2026
The PISA 2025 results were released today, revealing the lowest average scores in reading, mathematics and science since the assessment began in 2000. Roughly 760,000 fifteen-year-olds across 91 countries and economies took the tests last year, with science as the main focus this cycle and new questions added on generative AI use and computational problem-solving.Reading scores dropped most sharply. Across OECD countries the average fell by 16 points from 2022 and by 28 points over the past decade, leaving students performing at a level once expected of those a full year younger. Mathematics declined 11 points since the last round. Science slipped more modestly. One in five students now fails to reach even basic proficiency in all three domains.Researchers and officials point to several overlapping causes. Recreational reading has declined while daily screen time has risen. Many students report rushing through texts and offering the first plausible answer rather than reading carefully. Digital devices in classrooms create frequent passive distraction; a sizable share of students say classmates are regularly off-task because of phones or tablets. This cycle also measured AI chatbot use for the first time. Students who rely on them frequently for summarising or drafting tend to score lower in science than those who use them sparingly or not at all, though the relationship varies by how the tools are applied.East Asian systems (Singapore, participating Chinese provinces, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei) again occupy the top ranks and showed greater resilience. Several European countries recorded historic lows, while a few, including Ireland and Italy, performed relatively better than their neighbours despite the overall downward trend. The results have prompted renewed debate about screen-time limits, the role of social media, and how schools should integrate or restrict AI tools.