Pisa results 2016: Singapore sweeps the board

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Singapore has swept the board in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Pisa global rankings of maths, science and reading skills among schoolchildren.

Meanwhile, the UK and England saw their performances drop in science, maths and reading, according to the latest results from Pisa released this morning.

But both countries rose up the science rankings in the influential Programme for International Student Assessment and finished above mainland China’s entry in reading. Singapore finished top in all three subjects.

Despite the UK’s score in science slipping from 515 to 509, falls in other countries’ results meant it rose six places in the science rankings to 15th.

In maths, the UK slipped one place to 27th compared with the last round of testing in 2012. In reading, it rose one place to 22nd, according to the tests taken by 540,000 15-year-olds in 72 countries last year. 

The top five places in maths and three of the top five places in science were taken by East Asian countries.

Estonia came third in science, sixth in reading and ninth in science. Near neighbour Finland rose to 4th in reading, remained 5th in science, but slipped a place to 13th in maths.

Canada also had a good Pisa climbing to third in reading and 7th in science. The Republic of Ireland climbed from 9th to 5th in reading.

Mainland China dropped to 27th place in the Pisa reading table, five places below the UK, after Beijing, Jiangsu and Guangdong were included with Shanghai this year.

Shanghai, as mainland China’s representative, had finished top in all three subject areas in both the previous two Pisa studies in 2012 and 2009.