The post-Covid collapse in education has halted amid signs of a narrowing equity gap, as disadvantaged students improved at higher rates than their richer peers.
That’s according to New Zealand’s 2025 Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) results, released this evening, which is a benchmark for 15-year-olds in the OECD in science, maths and reading.
We have been decline for two decades in the PISA results, so this is good news. The participation rate was down, so one has to be careful about concluding too much compared to previous assessments. But this is especially good:
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So the improvement comes from schools which have the most disadvantaged students. That will mean, if it continues, those kids are going to have better opportunities in life, despite their disadvantaged backgrounds. Education is the best way to provide equality of opportunity.
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So from 2000 to 2009, broadly stable. From 2009 to 2022 the declines were 40 in maths, 20 in reading and 28 in science. I understand that 20 points is approximately equivalent to a year’s learning, so that would mean students were 1 to 2 years behind what they were 15 years ago.
But in 2025, maths stabilised, reading dropped slightly and science actually improved. A long way to go, but stopping the decline is a good first step.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders
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