Results published on Tuesday show a sharp decline in reading and mathematics, raising fresh questions about regional inequality, classroom resources, digital learning and decades of upheaval in Spain’s education system
Spain Expat Press Editorial Team
Spain’s education system is facing renewed scrutiny after the latest Pisa results revealed a sharp deterioration in the performance of 15-year-olds, with scores in reading, mathematics and science among the lowest recorded by the country since it began taking part in the international assessment.
The results of Pisa 2025, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday, show Spanish pupils performing below the OECD average in all three of the main subjects assessed.
The decline is particularly pronounced in reading and mathematics. Spain recorded 451 points in reading, 457 in mathematics and 477 in science, representing falls of 23, 16 and eight points respectively compared with the previous assessment.
The figures add to concerns that the problems facing Spanish schools are not simply a temporary consequence of the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic, but part of a broader and longer-term challenge.
One in three struggling with basic mathematics
Perhaps more troubling than Spain’s position in international rankings is the proportion of pupils who fail to reach what Pisa considers a basic level of proficiency.
Only 67% of Spanish pupils reached at least Level 2 in mathematics, meaning roughly one in three fell below that threshold. Just 4% reached the two highest proficiency levels, compared with an OECD average of 8%.
In reading, 68% reached the basic benchmark, while only 2% were classified among the highest performers. In science, 76% reached Level 2 or above, with 4% achieving the highest levels.
The longer-term trend is equally concerning. Since 2015, the proportion of low-performing pupils in Spain has risen by 11 percentage points in mathematics, 15 points in reading and six points in science.
More screens, less reading
The decline comes amid a profound change in how Spanish children learn and spend their free time.
Tablets, laptops, digital textbooks and online learning platforms have become commonplace in many schools, while outside the classroom books and longer texts increasingly compete with smartphones, social media, YouTube, streaming services and gaming.
Pisa does not establish that greater use of tablets is responsible for falling results. The figures do, however, add to a growing international debate about screen time, concentration and changing reading habits among children and teenagers.
Digitalisation has brought considerable benefits to schools, but it has also raised questions about whether the right balance has been struck. A tablet can be an effective educational tool, but it cannot by itself replace sustained reading, handwriting, concentration or the ability to engage with a lengthy and complex text.
The issue extends beyond the classroom. Reading habits are also formed at home, and schools face a considerably more difficult task when children rarely read books or longer texts outside school.
A country divided by educational outcomes
Spain’s national average also conceals substantial differences between its autonomous communities.
Madrid, Castilla y León and Asturias are among the stronger-performing regions in several areas, while pupils in Andalusia, Valencia, Ceuta and Melilla record considerably weaker results.
Andalusia, for example, scored 442 points in mathematics, 441 in reading and 462 in science, more than 10 points below the already weak Spanish average in each of the three areas.
The regional divide is particularly relevant to foreign families considering settling permanently in Spain. Educational outcomes can vary considerably depending not only on the school a child attends, but also on the autonomous community in which the family lives.
Spain has a national education framework, but its 17 autonomous communities exercise extensive powers over the organisation and implementation of education.
Public and private schools
Pisa data also reveal differences between pupils attending state and privately run schools, with the latter tending to achieve higher raw scores.
The picture becomes considerably more complicated once socioeconomic background is taken into account. Pupils attending private schools are, on average, more likely to come from economically advantaged households, and much of the apparent performance gap narrows after these differences are considered.
Spain also has a large network of colegios concertados – privately managed schools financed largely with public money – making a simple comparison between “state” and “private” education particularly difficult.
The figures therefore do not establish that private schools inherently provide better teaching. They do, however, underline the continuing influence of family income and social background on educational attainment.
Language difficulties can slow classroom progress
Another challenge is the changing composition of classrooms as Spain experiences sustained immigration.
In some schools, particularly in areas with large migrant populations, a significant number of children have limited command of Spanish when they enter the education system.
This has practical consequences in the classroom. Where several pupils struggle to understand instructions, explanations or written material, teachers may need to repeat lessons, simplify language or devote additional classroom time to linguistic support.
Without sufficient specialist language teachers or additional support, this can slow the pace at which an entire class progresses and reduce the time available for new material, deeper study or support for higher-performing pupils.
The relevant factor is not a child’s nationality or family origin but their command of the language in which they are being taught. Nonetheless, when schools receive increasing numbers of pupils requiring intensive language support, staffing and resources need to increase accordingly.
If they do not, the regular classroom inevitably absorbs part of that additional workload.
Spain’s unusually high rate of repeating a year
Spain has also long stood out within the OECD for the number of pupils who repeat a school year.
In Pisa 2022, 22% of Spanish 15-year-olds reported having repeated at least one year since starting primary school, compared with an OECD average of about 9%.
The OECD has repeatedly questioned the effectiveness of widespread grade repetition, which does not necessarily produce better long-term outcomes and can increase the risk of disengagement from education.
The figures have prompted calls for struggling pupils to be identified and supported earlier rather than being required to repeat an entire academic year.
New government, new rules
Spain’s difficulties are compounded by something that teachers and parents have complained about for decades: the extraordinary frequency with which the country changes its education system.
Successive governments have introduced new education laws, curricula, assessment systems, rules governing progression between school years and different approaches to teaching.
Changes of government – particularly when power passes between the left and right – have often been followed by another change in educational priorities. Measures introduced by one administration have been amended or reversed by the next.
The result has been a system in almost permanent reform.
Responsibility cannot reasonably be attributed to a single government or political party. Conservative and Socialist administrations alike have reshaped Spanish education according to their priorities over several decades.
For teachers, however, it has meant repeatedly adapting to new requirements. Parents face changing rules, while children can experience several different educational approaches during a single school career.
The latest Pisa results are likely to revive calls for a cross-party agreement establishing basic educational principles that remain in place regardless of which party governs in Madrid.
The pandemic cannot explain everything
Spain is not alone in experiencing declining educational performance. The pandemic disrupted schooling across much of the world and learning losses have been recorded in numerous countries.
But Covid cannot account for all of Spain’s difficulties.
Regional disparities, socioeconomic inequality, high rates of pupils repeating years and political instability surrounding education policy all predate 2020.
The comparison with countries that have maintained or improved their performance also makes it increasingly difficult to regard Spain’s decline as inevitable. Turkey, for example, has now overtaken Spain across all three traditional Pisa subjects.
There are differences within Spain too. Castilla-La Mancha is among the exceptions to the general decline, recording improvements compared with the previous assessment.
A warning Spain cannot easily dismiss
Pisa is not a complete measure of an education system. It cannot assess every ability a child possesses, nor can it determine the quality of an individual school or teacher.
What it does measure, however, is fundamental: whether teenagers can understand texts, reason mathematically, interpret scientific information and apply what they have learnt to unfamiliar problems.
That is why Tuesday’s results matter.
Spain is not simply slipping a few places in an international league table. The proportion of pupils struggling with basic skills has risen significantly over the longer term, relatively few reach the highest levels of performance, and substantial inequalities remain between regions, schools and socioeconomic groups.
The answer is unlikely to be yet another short-lived overhaul of the education system. Schools need sufficient teachers and specialist staff, children with language or learning difficulties require early support, and sustained reading needs to regain importance both in classrooms and at home.
Digital technology also needs to be used where it demonstrably improves learning rather than replacing books and established teaching methods simply because a digital alternative appears more modern.
Above all, Spain faces the challenge of creating greater continuity in an education system that has spent decades being reshaped by successive governments.
Children cannot wait for the next election – or the next education law – before the country decides how its schools should work.
The latest Pisa figures are among Spain’s worst since the international assessment began. The question now is not simply which government should take the blame, but why one of Europe’s largest countries has struggled for so long to reverse the decline.
