European Trade Union Committee for Education

Today, the OECD published the results of PISA 2025, one of the world's most widely cited international assessments of education systems. While headlines will inevitably focus on rankings and performance comparisons, the real question for policymakers is not who moved up or down a table, but what is needed to ensure quality education for every learner. The PISA reports offer a breadth of information that should always be looked at as a whole, and they should be complemented with other international comparative and national data.

ETUCE calls for a broad and well-thought-out through policy response from European countries. And calls on the European Commission to put the EU Teachers Agenda and the teaching profession at the center of the education package to be published in November.

The PISA 2025 Results

The 2025 PISA results are worrying and they do point to a polycrisis facing education systems across most European countries. The outcomes for reading, mathematics and science are at their lowest since the start of the PISA reports. And this decline is a long-term trend. We also see worrying trends related to student engagement, school climate and parental engagement. The OECD highlights the relationship between teacher support, school climate, parental support, and good academic outcomes.

The overall PISA outcomes and trends across this broad spectrum are worse for the EU27 countries, with only some countries holding steadily. The trends for some ETUCE non-EU members are better. With some non-U countries seeing rapidly improving outcomes, particularly Georgia stands out.

Regarding teacher and school indicators. The PISA 2025 confirms: teacher support is the strongest in-school predictor of science performance and student engagement. Countries with high teacher support scores maintain better performance outcomes. Teacher support increased in approximately half of all systems since 2015, and this is positively correlated with better science scores. Only 28.8% of OECD students attend schools with no reported teacher shortages. Teacher vacancy rates are a structural drag on educational quality across virtually every OECD country.

Regarding Artificial Intelligence, 45.5% of students use AI at least weekly for learning purposes. AI use is now mainstream across all education systems and age groups. Moderate digital device use for learning at school is associated with better outcomes. High leisure-based digital use (especially social media) is associated with significantly worse outcomes. Students who do not use AI for specific tasks often outperform those who do. However, purposeful, critically reflective AI use — paired with AI literacy — appears to lead to more nuanced outcomes. The key variable is how AI is used, not whether it is used.

European education policy: involve the teaching profession, trust the teachers

For the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), the publication of PISA results should be a starting point for serious reflection, not a trigger for simplistic conclusions. Educational outcomes are influenced by a wide range of factors, including public investment, social and economic inequalities, student well-being, school resources, and, crucially, the availability of qualified and supported teachers.

Across Europe, education systems are facing persistent challenges. Teacher shortages continue to affect schools in many countries. Increasing workloads, growing administrative burdens, and difficulties in recruitment and retention are undermining the attractiveness of the profession. At the same time, teachers are expected to respond to increasingly complex social, technological and educational challenges.

Whatever the individual country results may show, one lesson remains clear: education systems cannot improve without investing in the people who make education possible. The TALIS report showed that only 18% of teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” that they can influence education policy in their country, on average. The TALIS report further states that: “Unlike in many other professions, where practitioners play a central role in shaping the standards and processes of their work, teachers often work under the direction of policymakers, administrators and stakeholders who are not involved in day-to-day classroom activities . This governance distance may explain why they perceive their influence over policy to be limited, particularly in education systems where policy formation is highly centralised.”

It's time to do things differently to turn things around, treat teaching like a profession and ensure attractive working and learning conditions.

This is why ETUCE is calling on European and national decision-makers to advance the priorities set out in the EU Teachers' Agenda. Europe needs comprehensive action to address teacher shortages, improve working conditions, strengthen professional autonomy, ensure access to high-quality continuing professional development, and guarantee meaningful social dialogue with education trade unions.

The publication of PISA 2025 also offers an opportunity to move beyond narrow debates about performance indicators. Policymakers should use the findings to examine whether teachers have the resources, trust and support they need to provide every learner with high-quality education. Sustainable improvement is achieved not through quick fixes, increased testing or pressure on schools, but through long-term investment in public education and in the teaching profession.

Through its Trust the Teachers campaign, ETUCE continues to advocate for policies that recognise teachers as education experts and key partners in shaping the future of education. Reforms are most effective when they are developed with teachers and their trade unions, not imposed upon them. We hope that both President von der Leyen and Executive President Minzatu will send a strong signal that education and teachers are a top strategic priority for Europe's future and will work with us to ensure quality education for all European students and making teaching an attractive profession across Europe.

As governments, institutions and stakeholders assess the implications of PISA 2025, ETUCE calls for the findings to be used constructively. The goal should not simply be to improve rankings, but to create the conditions in which every teacher can teach effectively and every learner can succeed.

Learn more about the EU Teachers' Agenda and the Trust the Teachers campaign