Programme for International Student Assessment scores lower than three years ago with results worst in Tasmania

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Australia’s year 9 students have recorded lower test scores in science, maths and reading than three years ago despite still outperforming most countries in the OECD, the latest Programme for International Student Assessment results show.

The Pisa results, released on Tuesday evening by the Australian Council for Educational Research, show the year 9s’ results in 2015 are part of a long-term decline in each category.

Australian students’ scientific literacy has declined by 17 points since 2006, equivalent to seven months of schooling, with nine points of the decline in the last three years.

Performance in maths had declined 30 points since 2003, equivalent to one year of schooling, with 10 points of the decline in the last three years.

Performance in reading literacy fell 25 points since 2000, or 10 months of schooling, with nine points of the decline in the last three years.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Australia’s performance in Programme for International Student Assessment reports since 2000. Photograph: Department of Education and Training

Despite the declines, Australia still beat 57 countries in science, 44 countries in maths and 50 countries in reading literacy.

Australia trailed 19 countries in maths, 11 in reading and nine in science.

Australia performed as well as the UK in all three areas and as well as New Zealand in science and maths but lagged behind our near-neighbours in reading. Singapore outperformed Australia in all three areas.

Australia’s average score has never been in the “high-performing” range for any of the Pisa domains, though it has always been significantly above the OECD average at the national level.

Results were worst in Tasmania, with average results “significantly below” the OECD average in maths, science and reading.

Australian students' results in maths and science falling in international rankings Read more

Average performance in the Northern Territory was also below the OECD average in reading literacy and on par with the average in scientific literacy.

In mathematical literacy, three jurisdictions (ACT, Western Australia and Victoria) performed significantly above the OECD average.

The Pisa results follow the 2015 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Timms), released last week, that showed Australia’s performance had flatlined for the past 20 years in science and maths and its year 8 students had fallen five ranks in those subjects.

Sue Thomson, the Acer director of educational monitoring and research, said the Pisa results were “much worse” than the flatlining Timms results.

That was because they show “Australian students’ ability to apply their mathematical and scientific knowledge to real life situations is falling not only relative to other countries but also in an absolute sense”, she said.

Thomson said there has been a 3% decrease in the proportion of high performers and a 5% increase in the proportion of low performers in scientific literacy from 2006 to 2015.

The education minister, Simon Birmingham, said it was “good news” that Australia was still ahead of the OECD average but the results “continued to paint a worrying trend”.

He said the results would be a key part of the 16 December meeting with state and territory education ministers about “how best to target Australia’s record levels of investment in schools and improve student outcomes”.

“Commonwealth funding for schools has increased by 50% since 2003 while our results are going backwards,” Birmingham said.

“I’m not suggesting that money is not important, of course it is vital, but as the OECD notes Australia ranks as spending the fifth-highest amount on education in the OECD and once you get to that level there is little value in just increasing spending the harder task is to invest in the areas that the evidence says makes a difference.”

Birmingham promised to tie schools’ funding to measures that would lift results.

Labor supports measures to boost school performance including better entry standards for teaching courses, greater principals’ autonomy, continuing education for teachers and evidence-based policies.

But Labor’s deputy leader and education spokeswoman, Tanya Plibersek, told Guardian Australia reforms couldn’t be delivered without restoring $29bn cut from projected schools’ funding growth in the 2014 budget.

“This idea that money doesn’t matter, it’s all about the reforms – we agree it’s all about the reforms but you need extra money to deliver them,” she said.

“At the time of this testing, less than 10% of Labor’s extra needs-based funding had flowed to schools.

“So any attempt to draw a link between the results and needs based funding is completely wrong.”