1370.0 - Measures of Australia's Progress, 2010  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 15/09/2010   
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Education

Average literacy scores for selected OECD countries
Graph Image for Average literacy scores for selected OECD countries

Footnote(s): (a) Data for the United Kingdom in mathematics is not statistically different to the OECD average in mathematics. (b) Data for the United States in reading was not published due to technical reasons.

Source(s): OECD PISA 2006, Science competencies for tomorrow's world, figure 6.20b (maths), figure 6.8a (reading), figure 2.11c (science)

OECD AVERAGE LITERACY SCORES

The OECD periodically publishes data on average reading, mathematics and science literacy scores under its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA aims to assess whether students, nearing the end of compulsory education, have acquired the knowledge and skills necessary for full participation in society. Around 400,000 students were selected to participate in PISA 2006, a sample representing about 20 million 15 year olds in the schools of the 57 participating countries (OECD 2007).

In all three literacy assessments in 2006, Australia scored higher than the OECD average. Of the OECD countries surveyed Australia had an 'upper rank' of 4th in science, 5th in reading and 6th in mathematics. Both Korea and Finland ranked highest in mathematics, while Korea ranked highest in Reading and Finland ranked highest in Science (OECD 2007).

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