Recent results show that they are weakening: reading results significantly declined in 56 out of 74 education systems from 2018 to 2025, and the average result in OECD countries dropped by 25 points – more than a year’s worth of progress.
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Lithuania is no exception. In 2025, the reading score of our fifteen-year-olds was 464 points, close to the OECD average of 461 points. However, we still lag behind the European leader Estonia by almost two years of learning. Moreover, Lithuania’s result has essentially not changed over nearly 20 years: in 2006, when our country first participated in the PISA study, it was 470 points, and now it is 464.
“The greatest concern is that more than one in four Lithuanian fifteen-year-olds do not reach even the basic reading level. This means that a large portion of students enter further education without sufficiently strong skills to understand and select information,” says Laura Tilvytė, head of the organization “Education #1.”
PISA defines the basic level as the point where a student can already understand the main idea of a medium-length text, find the necessary information, and, when clearly asked, evaluate the purpose and form of the text. In 2025, 28% of Lithuanian fifteen-year-olds did not reach this level.
Increasing number of hurried readers
PISA data show that not only students’ results are changing, but also how they read. From 2018 to 2025, the share of students reading accurately and fluently in OECD countries decreased by about 7 percentage points, while the share of so-called “hurried readers” – those who skim the text very quickly but more often answer incorrectly – nearly doubled: from 6.6 to 11.4 percentage points.
The more time and concentration reading requires, the harder it is for students. PISA shows that tasks with longer texts and those where it is not enough to find an answer but necessary to compare, evaluate, or connect information with other parts of the text are performed worse. It is also noted that students performed better at the beginning of the test than later. The longer they had to maintain attention and work with the text, the harder it was for them. OECD links this to a weakening ability or willingness to concentrate for longer.
“In Lithuania, the share of students reaching the highest reading levels is also decreasing: in 2022 it was 5%, and in 2025 – 4%. These are students who can not only understand complex texts but also compare information from several sources, notice contradictions, and reasonably assess what can be trusted. Therefore, we must look not only at how many children do not reach the basic level but also why so few reach the highest,” says L. Tilvytė.
Some countries manage to resist better
Even the strongest European countries have not avoided the decline in reading, but their results are still much higher than Lithuania’s. In 2025, 84% of fifteen-year-olds in Ireland reached the basic reading level, 83% in Estonia, and 72% in Lithuania. In other words, about one in six students in Ireland and Estonia do not reach basic skills, while in Lithuania it is more than one in four.
“Ireland responded to declining reading results more than a decade ago. It was clearly agreed there to reduce the share of weak readers and increase the number of strong ones. Therefore, since 2012, an additional hour per week has been allocated to language and literacy in primary schools. At the same time, teachers received more support and specific methods to strengthen reading. Schools appointed responsible persons for this, and students’ progress began to be regularly monitored. So if a child struggles with reading, efforts are made to notice it as early as possible and provide specific help,” says L. Tilvytė.
A similar principle is applied in England. There, six-year-old children undergo a national reading foundation check, which helps the teacher immediately see who needs additional help. If a child has not yet reached the set level, their skills are checked again the following year.
Estonia also consistently monitors students’ achievements at different educational stages. The country’s data systems allow seeing not only exam and test results but also student progress over time. Although Estonia’s reading results have also declined since 2015, it remains among the leading countries in Europe.
“The most important lesson from these examples is not to wait until reading gaps become visible after several years. A child’s progress must be monitored consistently so that we can see as early as possible where they begin to struggle and provide specific help. It is equally important not to forget stronger students – they need greater challenges and more opportunities to grow,” says L. Tilvytė.
PISA 2025 also draws attention to how data are used in schools. We have more and more of it, but simply collecting test, exam, or survey results is not enough. The most important thing is whether they help make decisions: to notice which child needs help, understand whether the chosen method works, and change it if necessary.
“In Lithuania, we often know well the average of the country, municipality, or school, but it is much more important to see the path of a specific child. Where did their reading skills stall? What help was provided? Did it yield results? Data must end not with a report but with action,” says Laura Tilvytė, head of the organization “Education #1.”
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