U.S. PISA Science Scores 2025
U.S. 15-year-old students scored 502 points in science in PISA 2025, compared with an OECD average of 482 points. Science was the major assessment domain in the 2025 cycle, allowing separate reporting of science competencies and environmental science.
U.S. PISA Science Results
U.S. Science Score vs OECD Average
Mean science performance among 15-year-old students in PISA 2025.
The OECD reports U.S. science performance as statistically higher than the OECD average.
2025 Science Score Data
| Statistical Comparison | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Science | 502 | 482 | +20 | U.S. score statistically higher than OECD average |
U.S. Science Performance Was Above the OECD Average
- The U.S. result was above the OECD average on both the mean-score comparison and the share of students reaching the baseline Level 2 threshold.
- The U.S. advantage was also visible at the upper end of the proficiency distribution: 13% reached Levels 5 or 6, compared with 7% across OECD countries.
- The official estimated science change from 2022 to 2025 was +2 PISA points and was not statistically detectable. The published rounded means are 499 for 2022 and 502 for 2025, which produce a three-point difference when directly subtracted.
PISA 2025 Science Competency Subscales
Because science was the major domain in 2025, PISA reported three separate science competency subscales. These scores describe different parts of scientific literacy and should not be averaged together.
| Measurement Role | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall science | 502 | 482 | Overall science scale |
| Explain Phenomena Scientifically | 500 | 482 | Science competency subscale |
| Evaluate Designs for Scientific Enquiry | 495 | 481 | Science competency subscale |
| Evaluate Scientific Information for Decision Making | 509 | 480 | Science competency subscale |
Raw subscale scores provide a descriptive profile. OECD’s within-system analysis standardizes the subscales before testing relative strengths, rather than treating the raw point gaps alone as evidence of a difference.
The Three Science Competencies Showed Different U.S. Results
- Evaluate Scientific Information for Decision Making had the highest U.S. subscale score at 509, followed by Explain Phenomena Scientifically at 500 and Evaluate Designs for Scientific Enquiry at 495.
- OECD’s standardized relative-strength comparison identifies decision making as stronger for the United States than both of the other science competencies. Explaining phenomena also ranks above evaluating enquiry designs in the U.S. profile.
- The overall science score of 502 remains the main national science result. Competency subscales add detail about the composition of that performance rather than replacing the overall measure.
Environmental Science in PISA 2025
PISA 2025 also reported an environmental science subscale drawn from science items focused on environmental and socio-ecological problems. It has its own proficiency distribution and should remain separate from the overall science scale.
| Environmental science mean score | 500 | 480 |
| Below Level 2 | 21.7% | 24.6% |
| Level 2 or higher | 78.3% | 75.4% |
Level 2 is the baseline environmental science proficiency level. The Level 2-or-higher shares shown above are the complements of the reported below-Level-2 percentages.
Environmental Science Adds a Separate Science Profile
- The U.S. environmental science mean was 500, compared with an OECD average of 480.
- About 21.7% of U.S. students were below the environmental science Level 2 baseline, compared with 24.6% across OECD countries. This corresponds to 78.3% of U.S. students reaching Level 2 or higher.
- The environmental science score is a science subscale. Its 500-point U.S. mean should not be interpreted as a two-point decline from the overall science score of 502.
U.S. Science Score: 2022 and 2025
The latest two PISA science estimates for U.S. 15-year-old students.
Official estimated change: +2 points. The displayed whole-number means are 499 in 2022 and 502 in 2025, so subtracting the rounded values produces +3. OECD calculates the official change from unrounded estimates and reports no statistically detectable difference between the two cycles.
| 2022 | 499 | 4.32 |
| 2025 | 502 | 5.82 |
2022–2025 comparison: OECD reports an official estimated change of +2 PISA points. The difference is based on unrounded estimates and was not statistically detectable. The +3 obtained from 499 and 502 is only the subtraction of the published rounded means.
Science Proficiency in 2025
| Level 2 or higher | 78% | 74% | +4 percentage points |
| Level 5 or 6 | 13% | 7% | +6 percentage points |
Baseline and Top-Performer Shares Show Different Parts of the Distribution
- Level 2 is the PISA baseline threshold for science proficiency, while Levels 5 and 6 identify students able to handle more demanding scientific tasks. The two measures therefore describe different portions of the performance distribution.
- The United States exceeded the OECD averages on both measures, so its 2025 science profile was not limited to a higher mean score.
Data Sources, Measurement and Comparability
Official results
OECD PISA 2025 Results (Volume I): United States reports the U.S. science result, OECD comparison, proficiency shares and data-quality cautions.
Technical documentation
NCES PISA 2025 Methodology and Technical Notes provides U.S. sampling information, standard errors, proficiency cut scores and technical information for cycle comparisons.
Assessment population
PISA measures students around age 15 rather than a single U.S. grade. In the United States, 4,625 students participated in the core assessment and 3,583 received the science assessment.
Science scale
PISA science performance is estimated using item-response methods and plausible values. Science was the major PISA domain in 2025 and included both new assessment material and trend items.
Science competency subscales
OECD PISA 2025 student-performance tables report the three science competency subscales. For the United States, the published means are 500 for Explain Phenomena Scientifically, 495 for Evaluate Designs for Scientific Enquiry and 509 for Evaluate Scientific Information for Decision Making.
Environmental science
OECD PISA 2025: Students and the Environment reports the environmental science subscale and defines Level 2 as its baseline proficiency level. The U.S. mean was 500, compared with an OECD average of 480.
Proficiency thresholds
Science Level 2 begins at 409.54 points. Level 5 begins at 633.33 points, and Level 6 begins at 707.93 points. Students below Level 2 have not reached the baseline proficiency threshold used in PISA science reporting.
U.S. 2025 data-quality caution
OECD marks the United States with an asterisk in PISA 2025 because one or more sampling standards were not met. U.S. school participation and student response rates fell below PISA targets, while student exclusions exceeded the stated tolerance. OECD reports that available analyses cannot rule out bias or determine its likely direction. The 2025 estimates should therefore be interpreted with this additional uncertainty in mind.
Comparing 2022 and 2025
The published whole-number U.S. science means are 499 points in 2022 and 502 points in 2025. These displayed values differ by three points, but OECD reports the official estimated change as +2 PISA points because the trend calculation uses unrounded estimates. The change was not statistically detectable.