British schools have failed to improve in recent years and are still lagging behind Asian nations on reading, science and maths, according to a major international study. The UK was 26th out of 65 for maths, 23rd for reading and 21st for science.
An international survey of more than half a million 15-year-olds from 65 countries shows that UK teens are still lagging behind countries such as China, Korea and Japan in educational standards.
The UK's average score for maths was 494 and in reading it was 499, broadly the same as the OECD averages, putting the country on a par with nations such as the Czech Republic, France,and Norway.
In science, UK teenagers scored 514 points, above the OECD average and similar to results in Australia, Austria, Ireland, New Zealand and Slovenia.
But it also leaves the UK lagging far behind leading nations including Shanghai in China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan in each of the areas tested.
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