The results of French students in the 2025 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) survey are the lowest since the rankings began in 2000. Despite this, France still falls within the average range of OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries in mathematics, reading comprehension, and science. According to the OECD, performance in science has remained roughly the same, but there has been a notable drop of more than 20 points in reading comprehension and mathematics. Compared to the 2022 survey, scores in science decreased by 4 points, in reading comprehension by 18 points, and in mathematics by 16 points. The OECD estimates that a 20-point drop is equivalent to about one year of schooling. Over the past decade, student scores in reading comprehension and mathematics have declined by 40 points, which is roughly equivalent to two years of learning. Students from the most privileged families have experienced even sharper declines, losing 50 points in reading comprehension and 28 points in mathematics over the same period. In 2023, the PISA report had already flagged an "unprecedented" decline in mathematics performance, with France ranked 23rd in that subject. In 2025, girls scored 32 points higher than boys in reading comprehension, though the gender gap in mathematics has narrowed. However, the reading comprehension gap has widened. The PISA survey also found a significant drop in the number of students achieving high performance in at least one subject. In mathematics, only 5% of French students achieved very high results, compared to 8% on average across OECD countries. This is far below the 54% of students in China (specific provinces), 37% in Singapore, 32% in Taiwan, and 29% in Macao. The socioeconomic status of students is a strong predictor of their academic performance. In science, the most privileged French students scored 100 points higher than those from disadvantaged backgrounds, a gap larger than the average seen in OECD countries (85 points). However, about 11% of students from disadvantaged backgrounds achieved results that placed them among the top performers in science. In 2025, 45% of French students attended schools where school leaders reported that teaching was hindered by a lack of teachers—higher than the OECD average of 39%. The PISA survey also noted that 23% of students said they could not work well during most or all of their science classes, and nearly half indicated that noise and disorder disrupted most or all of their classes. The OECD also pointed out that parents in France are investing less in their children's schooling, with a significant decline in family support reported across most countries, including France. Only 34% of parents regularly ask their children about any problems they had at school, and 60% of parents who are interested in their children's school day do so only once or several times a week. Édouard Geffray, the French Minister of National Education, described the results as "concerning" but "not a surprise." He emphasized that secondary education must be the "major project" of the next five years. He called for a focus on teaching methods, school autonomy, and the ongoing training of teachers. Geffray also highlighted the need to relaunch the labeling of school textbooks and to provide families with detailed documents outlining the learning objectives for the school year.