On 8 September 2026, the OECD released the results of PISA 2025, its international study of how well 15-year-olds can use what they have learnt. Singapore came first in reading and second in both mathematics and science. In maths, only one education system scored higher: four regions of China (Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang), reported together as B-S-J-Z (China).
The rankings will make the news. Many things feed into results like these. One that any family or school can borrow is the way Singapore teaches maths in primary school.
What PISA measures
PISA, the Programme for International Student Assessment, does not check whether students can recite a syllabus. It gives them unfamiliar, real-world problems and asks them to reason their way through. In 2025, more than 760,000 students from 91 countries and economies took part.
| Subject | Singapore’s score | OECD average | Singapore’s position |
| Reading | 535 | 461 | 1st |
| Mathematics | 563 | 463 | 2nd |
| Science | 560 | 482 | 2nd |
Scores from MOE’s PISA 2025 annex.
Singapore’s maths score slipped from 575 in 2022, when it ranked first, and the OECD average fell too. Even so, Singapore finished 100 points above the OECD average. It has placed first or second in PISA maths in every cycle since 2012.
MOE also noted that the gap between Singapore’s top and low performers grew between 2022 and 2025, although Singapore still has one of the lowest shares of low performers. Strong foundations matter for every child, not only the top of the class.
Why primary school matters
MOE’s Director-General of Education, Ms Liew Wei Li, said the results show that Singapore’s students are curious and “persevere even when learning gets hard”. In maths, we believe that habit starts in primary school.
TIMSS 2023, a separate international study, tests children at Primary 4 (Grade 4) and Secondary 2 (Grade 8). At Primary 4, Singapore’s pupils came first in maths among all participating education systems.
Singapore’s way of teaching primary maths, now known around the world as Singapore Maths, rests on three ideas:
- Concrete, pictorial, abstract. Children handle real objects first, then draw them, and only then move to numbers and symbols. A child who has bundled sticks into tens is more likely to understand place value than one who has only memorised the rule.
- The bar model. Pupils draw simple bars to show the quantities in a word problem. A confusing paragraph becomes a picture they can reason about, and the same tool carries them all the way to the ratio problems of Primary 6 (Grade 6).
- Depth before speed. Each topic is taught for understanding, so children can explain why a method works, not just follow it. Speed comes later, with practice.
A view from Mr Er Kwong Wah
Mr Er Kwong Wah was Permanent Secretary for Education from 1988 to 1994. In 1990, he received the Public Administration Gold Medal for his role in improving the quality of education in Singapore. He is Senior Advisor to Explico’s Singapore Maths. We asked him what he makes of the PISA 2025 results.
“Singapore’s results are not the product of one good year. They come from decades of steady work on the basics: a clear syllabus, good teaching materials, and dedicated teachers who make sure children understand before moving on. The wider gap between our top and lower-performing students reminds us that every child needs those foundations. They are built in primary school, and they cannot be rushed.”
What families and schools elsewhere can take from this
You do not need to live in Singapore to teach maths this way. A few simple habits help:
- Let children touch and draw before they write. Counters, blocks and quick sketches come first. The written sum comes last.
- Draw the word problem. When a child is stuck, ask them to draw a bar for each quantity before calculating anything.
- Ask “how do you know?” Explaining a method out loud shows whether a child understands it or is copying a pattern.
- Practise little and often. Short, regular practice, with worked solutions to check the thinking, tends to stick better than one long session a week.
For schools, consistency matters. Singapore’s national syllabus sets out what each level learns, so each year builds on the one before.
Beyond the rankings
PISA scores move a little from one cycle to the next. What has held steady for decades is how Singapore teaches maths from the first year of primary school: patiently, visually, and with understanding before speed.
If you would like to bring this approach to your classroom or your home, Explico’s Singapore Maths offers a complete Primary 1 to 6 (Grades 1 to 6) programme. It includes textbooks, workbooks, a worked solution video for every workbook question, and Teacher’s Guides. See how it works for schools or for parents.
