Half of all Australian 15-year-olds do not meet the expected performance of their age group in maths, but overall literacy, numeracy and scientific skills have stayed stable despite the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a surprising turn of events for watchers of the country’s education system, the ranking of Australian teenagers on the 2022 Program of International Student Assessment improved dramatically on the OECD assessment in all three areas, due to massive declines in performance in a number of other high-performing countries.