Educational Achievements of Ukrainian Students Explained

The educational achievements of Ukrainian students in 2025 have not worsened compared to the previous period; however, a return to the indicators that existed before 2018 has not yet occurred. According to the results of the international education quality study PISA, the losses that Ukrainian education has suffered in previous years remain unrecovered. This is reported by Finway Score Structure and the Scale of the Educational Problem According to PISA results, in 2025, Ukrainian students scored 448 points in science, 431 in mathematics, and 418 in reading. All these indicators have not changed significantly since 2022, indicating stabilization but not overcoming the previous decline. At the same time, the key issue lies not only in the average scores but also in the proportion of adolescents who do not reach the basic (second) level of knowledge. Thus, 46% of students did not meet the basic level in mathematics, 45% in reading, and 35% in science. In total, 56.4% of Ukrainian adolescents have low results in at least one subject, and nearly a third do not meet the minimum threshold in all three areas. This indicates that a significant portion of students cannot apply basic knowledge in practice. "Almost a third do not meet the basic threshold in all three areas. In fact, this means that for a significant portion of students, the main challenge remains not a complex academic program but the ability to apply fundamental knowledge in practice". Dynamics of Reading Literacy and Educational Inequality The most concerning issue is the decline in reading literacy levels. If in 2018 this indicator was 466 points, in 2022 it dropped to 427, and in 2025 it is already at 418. Over seven years, the decrease has amounted to 48 points, which is the largest among all assessment areas. PISA evaluates not only the ability to read a text but also the skills to find, analyze, interpret information, and use it to solve practical tasks. Therefore, poor reading results affect students' overall ability to learn independently and work with information. Another significant problem is the inequality among students depending on their place of residence. Children from cities have a substantial advantage over their peers from rural areas—the achievement gap is equivalent to almost three years of schooling. Specifically, 59% of urban students reach the basic reading level, while only 41% of rural students do. The study was conducted under the conditions of a full-scale war. It involved 8,962 adolescents from 17 regions, but some territories could not participate due to security restrictions. This means that the results cannot be automatically generalized to the entire country. The education of current adolescents has taken place amid a pandemic, mass remote lessons, air alerts, power outages, and frequent changes in residence. Challenges and Prospects for Ukrainian Education Although the results of PISA-2025 indicate the end of the worst phase of decline, a return to previous levels has not yet occurred. From now on, the task is to reduce the proportion of students with low basic knowledge, overcome educational inequality, and improve reading literacy levels. These areas will be crucial for the recovery and development of the education system in Ukraine. It is worth noting that modern school graduates face serious challenges when choosing their future profession. Their decisions are simultaneously influenced by war, the rapid development of artificial intelligence, labor market transformations, and economic uncertainty.