U.S. PISA Science Scores Over Time: 2006–2025
U.S. science performance in PISA has stayed within a relatively narrow score range across seven comparable assessment cycles from 2006 through 2025.
U.S. Science Score Summary
U.S. PISA Science Score Trend
Mean science performance among U.S. 15-year-old students across comparable PISA cycles.
Science trend comparisons begin in 2006, when science was first established as a PISA major domain. Scores are mean PISA points for 15-year-old students.
OECD PISA 2025 Results, Volume I, United States country note and underlying trend tables.
U.S. PISA Science Scores by Cycle
| Comparison with 2025 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 489 | Not statistically different from 2025 | Major domain |
| 2009 | 502 | Not statistically different from 2025 | Minor domain |
| 2012 | 497 | Not statistically different from 2025 | Minor domain |
| 2015 | 496 | Not statistically different from 2025 | Major domain |
| 2018 | 502 | Not statistically different from 2025 | Minor domain |
| 2022 | 499 | Not statistically different from 2025 | Minor domain |
| 2025 | 502 | Reference cycle | Major domain |
U.S. Science Performance Remained Stable Across the Series
- The seven reported means range from 489 to 502 points. OECD trend testing indicates that the cycle-to-cycle movement does not provide evidence of a lasting change in U.S. science performance across the comparable series.
- The 2025 mean returned to 502, the same rounded score reported in 2009 and 2018. The preceding 2022 mean was 499, but the 2022 and 2025 results are not statistically different after uncertainty and the cross-cycle linking error are taken into account.
- The apparent rise from the 2006 baseline should therefore not be interpreted from the rounded point difference alone. PISA trend comparisons incorporate sampling error and additional uncertainty from linking assessment scales across cycles.
Data Sources, Measurement and Comparability
Comparable Science Series
PISA science trend comparisons begin with 2006. Science was the major domain in 2006, 2015 and 2025, while it was assessed as a minor domain in the intervening cycles. PISA reports subject scores on a linked scale so group-level performance can be compared over time.
2022–2025 Comparison
NCES reports a 2025 U.S. science mean of 502 with a standard error of 5.82 and a 2022 mean of 499 with a standard error of 4.32. After including the 2022–2025 science linking error of 3.116 points, the difference is not statistically different from zero.
2025 U.S. Data Quality
The United States is marked with an asterisk in OECD PISA 2025 reporting because one or more sampling standards were not met. Student response rates were below the required target, student exclusions exceeded the permitted tolerance, and school participation also fell short of the target. OECD states that bias in the performance estimates cannot be ruled out and that its direction cannot be determined.
Assessment Population
PISA measures the performance of 15-year-old students rather than a specific U.S. grade. The 2025 U.S. assessment included 4,625 students in 144 participating schools. PISA results describe groups of students and are not individual student scores.
Comparability caution: The 2025 point should remain in the official trend series, but the U.S. sampling-standard warning should accompany interpretation of the latest result. Rounded score differences alone are not sufficient for deciding whether performance changed between cycles.