This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

A stubborn gap in attainment between Britain's best- and worst-performing students has pinned the UK to the middle of international education rankings, despite years of effort by successive governments to raise standards.

The latest edition of the programme for international student achievement (Pisa) from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), published today, shows the UK's position virtually unchanged from the last exercise in 2009, with slight improvements in the reading and maths scores of the nation's 15 year-olds offset by a minor drop in science.

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The UK slipped back four places in science, to rank 20th out of 65 countries and regions taking part in exams administered by the OECD; in maths and reading the UK gained two places to reach 26th and 23rd overall, with results comparable to France's.

Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's deputy director for education and skills and co-ordinator of the Pisa programme, said anyone looking for the impact of the education reforms introduced in England since the 2010 election was "three years early".

"You are not going to see great surprises about the UK in this data," Schleicher said, announcing the results at a briefing in London.

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But Tristram Hunt, Labour shadow education secretary, seized on the improved performance by Britain's Asian economic rivals – including China's Shanghai region, Taiwan and South Korea – to accuse David Cameron of failing to confront the international challenge.

"The Pisa report is a big wake-up call," Hunt said. "Eastern dominance centres on the importance that these high-performing education systems place on the quality and status of the teaching profession as the central lever for driving up standards."

"This report exposes the failings of this government's schools policy – a policy that has sent unqualified teachers into the classroom and prevented effective collaboration between schools."

In maths, the UK's 26th place was similar to the positions of France, Ireland and New Zealand, as well as an an advance on its 2009 ranking of 28th. In reading, UK students 23rd position overall was comparable to those of France, Germany and the US.

Professor Robert Coe, of Durham University, said: "It is interesting that Pisa test results for the UK show little difference in maths, English and science for recent years. This seems to underline the view that improvements in GCSEs and some other examinations have had more to do with grade inflation than real, sustained improvement over time."

The picture was slightly different when the UK's home nations were listed individually. While 15 year-olds in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all showed almost identical performances to their previous scores, Wales lagged further behind in all three subject areas.

The OECD's analysis showed that the UK had relatively good results in terms of the attainment of immigrants, and a smaller gender gap than many other countries. However, its high proportion of low-acheiving students, and their performance compared with those of their counterparts in other countries, held it back from appearing higher in the rankings.

Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Sutton Trust, which seeks to promote the interests of non-privileged students, said improving the performance of teachers in England's schools was the key.

"We need a relentless focus on improving the quality of existing teachers within the classroom, through better appraisal, professional development and leadership," Lampl said.

"Sutton Trust research has shown that English schools could improve their low position in international league tables in reading and mathematics and become one of the top five education performers in the world within 10 years, if the performance of the country's least effective teachers were brought up to the national average."

Christine Blower of the National Union of Teachers said any debate over the Pisa rankings should take into account different economic and social situations.

"It is regrettable but a plain fact that child poverty is the biggest factor limiting children's potential. Life outside of the classroom does impact on the ability to learn and is an issue that this and future governments must address," Blower said.

The OECD analysis said that, while the UK spends more on education than most OECD member states, that expenditure did not translate into improved education.

Schleicher said there was little difference between the UK's state and independent schools in terms of their quality of education, according to Pisa's findings.

"Our data doesn't show much of a performance difference between public and private schools, once you account for socio-economic background," he said.

"Much of the advantage that comes from private schooling is confirmed by the social-economic context, not necessarily in value added."