Wales' PISA rankings worst in UK

Michael Davidson from the OECD - the organisation behind the PISA survey - says pupils' social background is not a leading factor in educational performance in Wales.

Mr Davidson said: "Unlike in some countries where your social background really makes a difference to your success in education, that's not such an issue in Wales. It's more of a challenge to address the under-performing students."

Shadow Welsh Secretary, Owen Smith, has described the PISA results for Wales as 'disappointing' but says that 'the Welsh Labour Government has already recognised the scale of the challenge we face and has put in place the measures required to turn things around.'

He added that

There are two problems for the Labour politicians running the Welsh Government. Firstly it is they who made PISA results such an important measure of progress in education and it's they who have been in charge of education here since the Assembly began, even when it was run by coalition governments.

The first is why the First Minister and Education Minister made no attempt to portray the figures as anything other than a disappointment. The second explains why opposition parties joined forces in the Senedd in a rare concerted attack on the First Minister. But watch Westminster closely too.

You'd expect Tory MPs to pin the blame on Labour. But it was Labour's Shadow Education Secretary who said that 'Wales has some difficult questions to answer' and some Welsh Labour MPs are also privately worried. You can be certain that they'll let their Cardiff colleagues know their concerns.

Owen Hathway, Policy Officer for NUT Wales, says today's PISA results are 'disappointing' but 'not unexpected'.

He added: "While they are a snapshot, and an important one, they probably don't accurately reflect the entire system as it is - and certainly not as it's going to be, once the reforms that were previously brought in are bedded in effectively."

First Minister Carwyn Jones has acknowledged that the PISA results for Wales are 'not good enough.' Responding to criticism from opponents during First Minister's Questions, he listed reforms that the Welsh Government had introduced since the last set of PISA figures.

But he agreed the figures were 'disappointing' and accepted the need to improve but said it will 'take some time for these measures to bear fruit.'

Welsh Conservative MP Alun Cairns described Wales' PISA results as 'nothing short of a scandal' and said that 'parents across Wales are genuinely worried about their children's education.'

Education Secretary Michael Gove said that Wales was like a 'control sample' in an experiment, saying that Wales is

Schools in Scotland came out top in maths and reading in the UK, whilst schools in England led the way in science.

Overall:

• Scotland scored 498 points
• England scored 495 points
• Northern Ireland scored 498 points
• Wales scored 480 points

Reading:

• Scotland scored 506 points
• England scored 500 points
• Northern Ireland scored 498 points
• Wales scored 480 points

Science:

• England scored 516 points
• Scotland scored 513 points
• Northern Ireland scored 507 points
• Wales scored 491points

The Acting Director of the National Association of Head Teachers says Wales must pull together in the wake of its poor PISA results.

UK Education Secretary Michael Gove has pinned the blame for Wales' poor performance in the PISA results on Labour Welsh Governments. He told MPs that 'if you want to know what our education system would look like [under Labour] you only need to look over the Severn Bridge.'

But Labour MP Huw Irranca-Davies criticised the Education Secretary for that response. The Ogmore MP said there are failings in all parts of the UK and to 'make political capital... is the wrong approach.'

Welsh Conservative MP Guto Bebb asked Michael Gove if he blamed 'a £600 per head funding gap or a Labour [Welsh] government which has accepted teaching unions' dogma.' The Education Secretary said simply, 'both.'