Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek assessed the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025, announced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Şimşek said Türkiye had made notable progress in education indicators and stated that policies aimed at investing in education and strengthening human capital would continue.
Türkiye rises in the rankings among 91 countries and economies
PISA 2025 was conducted with the participation of approximately 760,000 students from 91 countries and economies. In Türkiye, 7,702 students from 203 schools in 56 provinces took part.
The results showed that Türkiye climbed the rankings in all three core areas compared with PISA 2022.
Among all participants, Türkiye;
• rose from 34th to 19th place in science, advancing 15 positions.
• rose from 36th to 18th place in reading, advancing 18 positions.
• rose from 39th to 28th place in mathematics, advancing 11 positions.
Türkiye exceeds the OECD average in science and reading
According to the OECD's country note on Türkiye, Turkish students performed above the OECD average in science and reading in PISA 2025, while their mathematics results were close to the OECD average.
Türkiye's average score in science was 494, compared with an OECD average of 482. Türkiye's science score increased by 18 points compared with PISA 2022.
OECD data also showed that Türkiye was one of the few countries and economies to improve its performance in all three areas—mathematics, reading and science—from 2022 to 2025.
Şimşek: Türkiye is the only OECD member to improve in all three areas consistently over the past 10 years
Assessing the results on his social media account, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek highlighted Türkiye's significant achievement in the PISA results.
Şimşek said Türkiye had recorded the largest increase in scores in all three areas among OECD countries compared with 2022, adding that it was the only OECD member to have consistently improved its performance in all three areas over the past 10 years.
Türkiye's ranking among OECD countries also changed significantly. Türkiye, which ranked 29th in science in 2022, rose to 14th in 2025; in reading, it rose from 30th to 13th, and in mathematics, from 32nd to 23rd.
Education receives 15.3 percent of the 2026 budget
Şimşek also addressed the resources allocated to education policies in his statement.
Şimşek said education received the largest share of the 2026 budget, at 15.3 percent, and stressed that education policies would continue in order to further strengthen the quality of human capital, one of the key elements of development.
The global picture was different in PISA 2025
Türkiye's rise was also notable because it came at a time of decline across the OECD.
According to the OECD's PISA 2025 report, mathematics and reading performance declined across OECD countries, with average results in these areas falling to their lowest levels in the history of PISA. The OECD average in science, however, remained generally stable compared with 2022.
Against this backdrop, Türkiye's increase in scores in all three core areas, particularly its performance above the OECD average in science and reading, stood out as a significant development.
What is PISA?
PISA, organized by the OECD, assesses the extent to which 15-year-old students can apply their knowledge and skills in science, mathematics and reading to real-life problems.
The 2025 assessment was the largest PISA study conducted to date, with approximately 760,000 students from 91 countries and economies taking part.
