Hong Kong Students Slip in Global Rankings as Science, Math, Reading Scores Decline in PISA 2025
AM730 · 1 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago5 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong's performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025 has shown notable declines across all three core academic domains. The University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Education, commissioned by the Education Bureau, released findings on Tuesday involving 6,445 fifteen-year-old students from 230 secondary schools. While Hong Kong students continue to outperform international averages, their global rankings have slipped significantly, raising questions about the impact of digital technology and post-pandemic learning challenges.
Key Points
- Hong Kong's science score of 496 points placed it 16th globally, a sharp drop from 7th place in PISA 2022, with the top three spots taken by Mainland China (Beijing-Shanghai-Jiangsu-Zhejiang), Singapore, and Macau
- Reading performance fell to 15th place with 480 points, down four positions from 11th in 2022, while math slipped from 4th to 7th with 522 points
- In the new "Learning in a Digital World" domain, Hong Kong ranked 6th with 545 points, reflecting relative strength in digital literacy compared to core academic subjects
- Professor Lin Wei-ye (林葦葉), co-project leader and reading expert, cited AI and digital technology as causing "fragmentation" of reading abilities, with students preferring short videos over complex texts
- The Education Bureau acknowledged a "significant gap" between results and teachers' observations of student capabilities, promising to review assessment arrangements with stakeholders
Why It Matters
The decline comes amid broader global trends in PISA performance, but Hong Kong's drops outpace many competitors, potentially affecting the city's long-term competitiveness in producing skilled graduates. Professor Leung Koon-shing (梁貫成), the project's chief researcher, emphasized that while PISA results warrant reflection, cultural differences mean it should not be the sole benchmark for educational quality.
The decline comes amid broader global trends in PISA performance, but Hong Kong's drops outpace many competitors, potentially affecting the city's long-term competitiveness in producing skilled graduates. Professor Leung Koon-shing (梁貫成), the project's chief researcher, emphasized that while PISA results warrant reflection, cultural differences mean it should not be the sole benchmark for educational quality.