UK students stuck in educational

doldrums, OECD study finds

Influential Pisa report says Britain's mid-table position is virtually
unchanged from 2009 as attainment gap persists

Schoolchildren in Leyton, east London: the OECD finds little difference

between fee-paying and state schools in terms of quality. Photograph:
Felix Clay
A stubborn gap in attainment between Britain's best- and worstperforming students has pinned the UK to the middle of international
education rankings, despite years of effort by successive
governments to raise standards.
The latest edition of the programme for international student
achievement (Pisa) from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD), published today, shows the UK's position
virtually unchanged from the last exercise in 2009, with slight
improvements in the reading and maths scores of the nation's 15
year-olds offset by a minor drop in science.

The UK slipped back four places in science, to rank 20th out of 65

countries and regions taking part in exams administered by the
OECD; in maths and reading the UK gained two places to reach 26th
and 23rd overall, with results comparable to France's.
Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's deputy director for education and
skills and co-ordinator of the Pisa programme, said anyone looking for
the impact of the education reforms introduced in England since the
2010 election was "three years early".
"You are not going to see great surprises about the UK in this data,"
Schleicher said, announcing the results at a briefing in London.

But Tristram Hunt, Labour shadow education secretary, seized on the

improved performance by Britain's Asian economic rivals including

China's Shanghai region, Taiwan and South Korea to accuse David

Cameron of failing to confront the international challenge.
"The Pisa report is a big wake-up call," Hunt said. "Eastern dominance
centres on the importance that these high-performing education
systems place on the quality and status of the teaching profession as
the central lever for driving up standards."
"This report exposes the failings of this government's schools policy
a policy that has sent unqualified teachers into the classroom and
prevented effective collaboration between schools."
In maths, the UK's 26th place was similar to the positions of France,
Ireland and New Zealand, as well as an an advance on its 2009
ranking of 28th. In reading, UK students 23rd position overall was
comparable to those of France, Germany and the US.
Professor Robert Coe, of Durham University, said: "It is interesting
that Pisa test results for the UK show little difference in maths, English
and science for recent years. This seems to underline the view that
improvements in GCSEs and some other examinations have had more
to do with grade inflation than real, sustained improvement over
time."
The picture was slightly different when the UK's home nations were
listed individually. While 15 year-olds in England, Scotland and
Northern Ireland all showed almost identical performances to their
previous scores, Wales lagged further behind in all three subject
areas.
The OECD's analysis showed that the UK had relatively good results in
terms of the attainment of immigrants, and a smaller gender gap than
many other countries. However, its high proportion of low-acheiving
students, and their performance compared with those of their
counterparts in other countries, held it back from appearing higher in
the rankings.
Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Sutton Trust, which seeks to promote the
interests of non-privileged students, said improving the performance
of teachers in England's schools was the key.

"We need a relentless focus on improving the quality of existing

teachers within the classroom, through better appraisal, professional
development and leadership," Lampl said.
"Sutton Trust research has shown that English schools could improve
their low position in international league tables in reading and
mathematics and become one of the top five education performers in
the world within 10 years, if the performance of the country's least
effective teachers were brought up to the national average."
Christine Blower of the National Union of Teachers said any debate
over the Pisa rankings should take into account different economic
and social situations.
"It is regrettable but a plain fact that child poverty is the biggest
factor limiting children's potential. Life outside of the classroom does
impact on the ability to learn and is an issue that this and future
governments must address," Blower said.
The OECD analysis said that, while the UK spends more on education
than most OECD member states, that expenditure did not translate
into improved education.
Schleicher said there was little difference between the UK's state and
independent schools in terms of their quality of education, according
to Pisa's findings.
"Our data doesn't show much of a performance difference between
public and private schools, once you account for socio-economic
background," he said.