> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.benchmarkanalytics.com.au/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Mathematics: Australia’s two-decade steady decline in proficiency - URL: https://www.benchmarkanalytics.com.au/australia-maths-decline-pisa-2025/ - Published: 2026-09-15T01:10:20.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-15T01:10:20.000Z - Description: Australia’s PISA mathematics performance has fallen at every cycle since 2003. The latest data show more low-performing students, fewer top performers, and a sharply reduced lead over comparable OECD countries. - Author: Nick Hossack - Tags: Australia PISA Maths Decline, Productivity, Australian Economy Australia’s latest PISA results confirm a long-running deterioration in school mathematics performance that can no longer be dismissed as a temporary setback. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), run by the OECD, tests the capabilities of 15-year-olds across participating countries. In mathematics, Australia’s score has now fallen at **every single PISA cycle since 2003**. The national average has declined from **524.3 in 2003 to 477.5 in 2025** — a fall of **46.7 points**. That is not just a bad year. It is a two-decade trend. Importantly, this is not mainly a COVID story. By 2018, before the pandemic, Australia’s mathematics score had already fallen to **491.4**, meaning most of the long-run deterioration had already occurred. The result beneath the headline average is even more concerning. In 2003, Australia had **19.8 per cent** of students performing at the top levels in mathematics, compared with **14.3 per cent** classed as low performers. In other words, Australia had more top maths students than weak ones. By 2025, that position had reversed dramatically. The share of **low performers had risen to 29.1 per cent**, while the share of **top performers had fallen to 9.9 per cent**. Australia now has almost **three low-performing maths students for every top performer**. That is a profound change in the shape of educational performance. It suggests the problem is not confined to one small struggling cohort. Australia is producing fewer outstanding maths students while also seeing a growing share of students fail to reach basic proficiency. There is, however, an important qualification. Australia is **still above the OECD average** in mathematics. In 2025, Australia scored **477.5**, compared with an **OECD average of 463.0**. But that should not provide much comfort. Using the OECD’s consistent comparison group, Australia’s lead has narrowed sharply. In 2003, Australia outperformed the OECD-23 average by **22.1 points**. By 2025, that advantage had fallen to just **8.1 points**. So the real story is not that Australia has already become a poor performer by international standards. It is that Australia has experienced a **clear and sustained decline**, and its former margin of strength has been steadily eroded. If this trend continues, the country’s future stock of numerate workers, professionals and high-skill problem-solvers will be weaker than the one that preceded it. Australia's maths performance has been falling for two decades PISA mean mathematics score, 15-year-olds 2003 score 524.3 2025 score 477.5 Change since 2003 \-46.7 470 485 500 515 530 2003 2006 2009 2012 2015 2018 2022 2025 Australia Low performers 14.3% → 29.1% Top performers 19.8% → 9.9% Lead over OECD-23 22.1 → 8.1 pts **Source:** OECD PISA 2025 results workbook. Mathematics trend from Table I.B1.2a.38; low and top performers from Table I.B1.2a.35\.