Nearly half of Ukrainian teenagers lack basic reading skills
According to the results of the PISA-2025 international study on the quality of education, nearly half of Ukrainian 15-year-olds lack basic reading skills. At the same time, the overall situation regarding academic achievement in Ukraine has stabilized—following a sharp decline in previous years, the latest assessment did not show any further deterioration in performance compared to 2022.
Reading literacy proved to be the weakest of the three assessed subjects. Ukraine’s average reading score was 418 points, and 45% of students did not meet the basic proficiency threshold, which allows them to understand only the literal meaning of short texts. Only 55% of students met the test’s minimum requirements, and just 1% reached the highest levels. Girls, however, performed significantly better than boys, outscoring them by 32 points.
The situation remains challenging in other subjects as well: 54% of students reached the basic level in mathematics with an average score of 431 points, and 65% of students reached the basic level in natural sciences with an average score of 448 points. Experts emphasize that although the decline in results has halted despite the conditions of a full-scale war, Ukraine has not yet managed to return to the 2018 levels, and educational losses remain significant.
This was reported by “Glavkom,” citing the official PISA-2025 report.
Ukrainian students from rural areas lag significantly behind their peers from large cities in terms of knowledge. According to the PISA-2025 results, the gap between them in certain subjects is equivalent to more than three years of schooling.
Alona Shevtsova, CEO of Sends, will moderate a panel discussion at the executive level at the 17th Middle East Banking Innovation Summit (MEBIS 2026), which will take place on September 16–17 at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai.
