Japan's students come first in big world test

Students in Japan got the best results among OECD countries in a big international^*1 test. Japan's Ministry of Education and the National Institute for Educational Policy Research announced the results on September 8, 2026.

The test is called PISA 2025. It is run by the OECD, an organization^*2 of many countries. About 760,000 students from 91 countries and regions^*3 took the test between June and August 2025. In Japan, about 6,500 students from 183 high schools took part. They were in their first year of high school. The schools were chosen by international rules.

The test has three main parts: science, reading, and math. Japan came first among OECD countries in all three parts. This is the first time Japan has done this since the test began. Japan also came first among OECD countries in a new part of the test called "Learning in the Digital World." This part was given for the first time in 2025.

Japan's average^*4 score in science was 538 points. The average for OECD countries was 482. In reading, Japan scored 503 points, and the OECD average was 461. In math, Japan scored 525 points, and the OECD average was 463.

When all 91 countries and regions are counted, Japan was fifth in science, fourth in reading, fifth in math, and fourth in "Learning in the Digital World."

Not all of the news was good. Japan's reading score went down by 13 points from the last test in 2022. In all three parts, more students got low scores than before. The number of students with high scores did not change much.

The science part of the test has a new name this year. It used to be called "scientific literacy^*5." Now it is called "science competency^*6." The full results for "Learning in the Digital World" will come out in 2027. They will include a part about how students manage their own learning.

1. *1 international: between many countries
2. *2 organization: a group of people or countries that work together
3. *3 regions: areas that are part of a country or part of the world
4. *4 average: the middle number for a whole group; you add all the scores and share them out equally
5. *5 scientific literacy: knowing and understanding science
6. *6 science competency: being able to use science well