Reading skills among Dutch teenagers have declined sharply again, according to the latest PISA study, which measures the basic skills of 15-year-olds in dozens of countries every three years. Results in science and mathematics remained largely unchanged.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) carried out the 2025 study. Around 760,000 students worldwide took part. In the Netherlands, 6,636 students from 177 schools across different educational levels participated.
The previous PISA report, based on research conducted in 2022 and published in 2023, already showed weak results. The latest findings suggest the situation has not improved.
Reading proficiency among Dutch 15-year-olds has been declining since 2012. Since 2018, Dutch students have performed below the European average, and the gap has continued to grow. By 2025, almost 40% had not reached the level that researchers consider the minimum baseline.
Average
The report’s authors warned that students with weak reading skills are likely to struggle more at school and in society. They also face a greater risk of leaving education with low literacy levels.
The average reading score across the 14 Western and Southern European countries used for comparison in the report, known as the EU14 group, also fell. However, the decline was slightly smaller than in the Netherlands.
Mathematics results also showed a downward trend, although Dutch students remained above the EU14 average. Researchers said the decline between 2022 and 2025 was not statistically significant. As a result, they consider performance to be broadly unchanged from 2022, while noting that there has been “no recovery”.
In science, which includes subjects such as biology, physics and geography, Dutch students’ scores remained virtually unchanged. Their performance was in line with the EU14 average.
The long-term picture is less positive. When PISA testing began in 2006, the Netherlands performed well above many other European countries. It now ranks below the average, suggesting that efforts by successive governments to reverse the trend have had little effect.
@anp | NEWS BRAINPORT
