Beijing Shanghai Jiangsu and Zhejiang top PISA 2025 science scores
Students from the four participating jurisdictions in China just scored the highest in the world on the PISA 2025 science test, beating out 90 other countries and economies.
Teens from Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang averaged 597 points, way ahead of US students, who landed at 502 points and finished 13th overall.
The PISA test checks how well 15-year-olds can understand and use science in real life.
Phone interruptions under 10% in China
Chinese classrooms tend to have fewer digital distractions: fewer than 10% of students say phones interrupt lessons, compared to nearly three times that in many other countries.
Tutoring and high academic expectations, as well as discipline in class and the establishment of school policies on smartphone use, are some common practices in certain areas of East Asia.
Certain of the best-performing Asian educational systems have weaker connections between socio-economic factors and performance in science.