Best education systems 2026: PISA 2022 evidence

Subject-level measurements. Measured values come from OECD PISA 2022 Annex B1 Tables I.B1.2.1 (mathematics), I.B1.2.2 (reading), and I.B1.2.3 (science). Combined is the rounded three-subject average.

Measured versus estimated. A measured row is a system on the OECD PISA 2022 participant roster. An estimated row is a retained WhereNext value for a country or system that did not participate in PISA 2022 and is never an OECD PISA 2022 measurement. Estimated rows stay in the comparison for coverage, carry a visible label, and are excluded from all top-system claims. Registry note: Participant subject scores verified against OECD PISA 2022 Annex B1 Tables I.B1.2.1, I.B1.2.2, and I.B1.2.3. Estimated values cover 24 WhereNext countries that did not participate in PISA 2022. PISA 2025 results are scheduled for release in late 2026; until then PISA 2022 is the latest cycle.

Normalized education score. The final column uses the same scoring path as the best-education ranking: each country target is built with the combined PISA value and normalized across the full tracked set by the WhereNext scoring engine. It is a relative WhereNext display score, not another OECD metric. The current ranked seed path does not add EF EPI or enrollment fields to education, so this table does not imply those sources are inputs.

Coverage and cadence. OECD lists 81 participating systems for the PISA 2022 edition. WhereNext tracks 95 country/system rows: 71 measured and 24 estimated. PISA publication is triennial; the next release fact shown above comes directly from the freshness registry.

PISA measures performance among participating 15-year-old students; it is not a complete assessment of access, equity, school fit, or an education recommendation.