Performance Comparison


The  Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study of 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading. In 2012 students from 65 countries and economies took part in the program.

PISA data once again reveals the wide gap existing between countries in the world. In this case the gap is related to education.
The widest gap appears to be in Math. Difference between score medians for best performing China-Shanghai and worst performing Qatar is 261 score points (72%). This difference is roughly equivalent to 6 years of schooling!

However, gaps between students within one country can be even wider. In Math the widest gap is 366 points (Chinese Taipei), in reading it is 373 (Bulgaria), in science - 339 (Israel).

To see concrete values hover over a bar, for data exploration try different sort options and country filters on the right panel.


Notes:

  • Some states (Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts) in United Stated and Perm in Russian Federation took part in PISA separately, so their results are presented separately in the chart.
  • When countries and economies are sorted by GDP, then GDP (per capita, PPP) is used (downloaded via World Bank ).
    Countries and economies without available GDP data are hidden.
  • According to PISA report 39 score points is the equivalent of nearly one year of schooling.
  • Used Abbreviations:
    UAE - United Arab Emirates
    USA - United States of America
    Russia - Russian Federation
    Perm(RF) - Perm(Russian Federation)
    Connecticut - Connecticut (USA)
    Massachusetts - Massachusetts (USA)
    Hong Kong - Hong Kong-China