PISA 2025: Decline in Reading Skills

“Some countries are doing well, but in many parts of the world it is now harder for young people to read more complex texts, navigate ambiguity and think critically about what they read. And that is really concerning,” said Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills and head of the PISA programme, referring to data recorded by the OECD over the past decade.

Schleicher discussed this issue against the backdrop of the rapid development of artificial intelligence, summarising the findings of the PISA 2025 report covering 91 countries and economies in an OECD presentation.

According to Schleicher, PISA assesses not only what 15-year-old students know, but also how they apply what they know.

While performance in science, the main focus of PISA 2025, has remained broadly stable, reading performance has declined significantly.

“What is particularly troubling is that we see declines in the kinds of reading skills that matter most in the age of artificial intelligence: the ability to triangulate different pieces of information, distinguish fact from opinion and navigate ambiguity,” he said.

Drawing on the research findings, Schleicher said that young people aged 13 to 35 now read faster, but with less accuracy.

“New technologies may put less demand on young people to think critically, to reflect, contrast and critique. They are increasingly becoming consumers of prefabricated knowledge,” the OECD official said.

“Many artificial intelligence applications are designed to make our lives easier. They give students ready-made answers rather than pushing them to make greater effort and ask the right questions,” Schleicher said, adding that the PISA results may reflect these changes.

At the same time, he said that the use of artificial intelligence can also have a positive impact if students are taught how to use these tools properly.

“Where students are intentionally taught how to interpret evidence from AI, the use of AI seems to be more positively related to learning outcomes,” he said.

Schleicher said it is therefore important to develop not only technical skills for using artificial intelligence, but also AI literacy — the ability to understand, evaluate and verify information provided by AI.

“Preparing young people with the right levels of AI literacy may become an antidote against the kind of more negative effects” of AI use, he said.

The PISA 2025 results were released on September 8. More than 760000 students from 91 countries and economies took part in the assessment. Armenia participated in PISA for the first time.