Singapore has the highest-achieving primary and secondary pupils in international education tests in maths and science.
But primary school pupils in Northern Ireland were ranked sixth at maths, the greatest of any in Europe.
England’s performance has not progressed since evaluations four years back. The very best spots in these rankings are dominated by East Asian countries, like Japan and South Korea, which are pulling from their opponents.
These standings that are international – Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) – are published every four years, predicated on tests taken by more than 600,000 students, aged nine to 10 and 13 to 14 in 57 countries.
International competition has been a major focus for changes to England’s school system – and researchers say the “most surprising feature of England’s 2015 results is how little they’ve changed since 2011”.
“The period between 2011 and 2015, under Michael Gove, saw major changes to school structures, the curriculum, teacher training, and assessment, and so one might have expected to see some impact from these changes,” said Ben Durbin at the National Foundation for Educational Research.
Secondary maths top 10
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- Hong Kong
- Japan
- Russia
- Kazakhstan
- Canada
- Ireland
- United States
- England
