Swiss youngsters perform well in sciences

(CONNECT) The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published the findings of the PISA 2025 study. Among the 91 countries investigated, Switzerland’s performance ranges from good to very good, as the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) writes in a statement covering the publication of the study. In specific terms, 15-year-olds in Switzerland consistently achieve above-average scores in the competency areas of science, mathematics, reading and model-based problem-solving.

In the primary domain of science, Switzerland’s performance level of 501 points is 19 points above average. In the field of mathematics, Swiss students scored 499 points, as against the OECD average of 463 points. In terms of model-based problem-solving, they exceeded the OECD average of 500 points by 20 points. Swiss students scored 470 points for reading, performing 9 points above the average.

Over the long term, trends vary depending on the area of ​​competence. For science, Switzerland has maintained a stable level of performance over the past decade, whereas performance is trending downwards in relation to reading and mathematics both in Switzerland and across the OECD average. The area of ​​competence known as model-based problem-solving was evaluated for the first time in the most recent study.

The findings in Switzerland in relation to the impact of social and linguistic backgrounds on academic performance also align with the OECD average. In this context, students from the lowest socio-economic quartile perform significantly worse than those from the other three quartiles. In contrast, there was no evidence of any gender-based differences vis-à-vis performance levels in Switzerland. ce/hs