PISA 2025: Spain slumps in every subject

Spain slumps in PISA 2025: decline in every subject and growing gap with the EU

There is no way to sugarcoat it: Spain has scored its worst result in PISA 2025 since the OECD began measuring the educational level of 15-year-olds. And it is not just a bad streak: the decline occurs in all three assessed competencies —Mathematics, Science and Reading—, while the distance from the European average widens. The figure that has caused the most noise, however, is another: one in five students (20.3%) has a migrant background, four points above the OECD average. The debate is open.

The numbers that allow no cheating

Spain drops across the board, but with territorial nuances. Madrid is the region that scores best, placing above the European and OECD averages. At the opposite extreme, Catalonia fails again, and some point out that the Generalitat has tried to dress up the sample: the discussion about sample manipulation in PISA is recurrent. And it is not only Catalonia: according to the data that have been handled, Murcia excluded 12% of its students and the Balearic Islands 7.5%, when the permitted limit is 5%. If those exclusions are removed, the real results would be even worse.

The migration factor: cause or scapegoat?

One of the axes of the analysis is the impact of immigration on results. It has been pointed out that the gap between native and migrant students is drastically reduced when adjusted for socioeconomic level, placing Spain with a difference smaller than that of the OECD and the EU. But there are currents that reject that adjustment: they argue that socioeconomic level is a consequence of performance, not a cause. They argue that the problem is that students with less preparation —many of them of migrant origin— end up dragging down the pace of the whole class. The discussion, very lively in the forum, has direct implications for school integration policies.

Madrid, the exception that proves the rule

While the national average falls, Madrid holds its own and even surpasses Europe. One figure stands out: 50% of Madrid students study in private or publicly funded private schools, which score an average of 40 points higher in PISA than public schools. It is the region with the highest percentage of students outside the public network, which fuels the debate over whether the key lies in the educational model or in the social composition of the schools. The case of Madrid contrasts with that of the Basque Country, where the proportion of private schools is even higher, but the results are among the worst. The socioeconomic factor, it seems, does not explain everything.

Teachers, gamification and mobile phones

The debate also reaches the teaching staff. From the classrooms it is denounced that "postmodern" pedagogy has turned school into a playground: gamification, learning by playing, has left aside basic content. As an example, a secondary school teacher relates that a 12-year-old student does not know how to calculate the change from 5 euros when paying 1.75 for sweets. Others point to the loss of authority of teachers, who are forced to wear leggings and protest T-shirts to fit in, and that some record themselves dancing with their students instead of teaching class. Meanwhile, in the Valencian Community teachers demand more than 500 euros extra per month for their splendid results. Ironies aside, the discontent is real.

What now?

The outlook is bleak, but not irreversible. The PISA decline is a symptom of a deeper problem: low demands, demotivation and the growing gap between those who study and those who do not. If the system is not seriously reformed, the consequences will be felt in productivity and employment within a few years. But like any crisis, it opens the door to change. Another question is whether political leaders will rise to the occasion. For now, the ball is in the court of the Ministry and the autonomous communities.