Results achieved by Northern Ireland's 15 year olds in international tests are a "wake-up call," according to the education minister.

Northern Ireland's scores were among the best in the world in international tests in Science, but performance in Reading and Maths tests has fallen over the past decade.

That echoes a "huge" drop in reading skills for 15-year-olds globally.

The three-yearly Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests are taken by around 750,000 15 year olds in 91 countries.

They are seen as a significant benchmark in how education systems in countries are performing.

The Pisa assessment is run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and tests knowledge and skills in Science, Reading and Maths.

In Northern Ireland, almost 3,500 teenagers for 104 schools took the computer-based tests in September and October 2025.

Pupils in Northern Ireland did well in Science - achieving an average score in the tests of 492 - which put them comfortably in the top third of countries.

The Science score in 2025 was also not significantly different to Northern Ireland's results in the tests taken a decade ago in 2015.

But while Northern Ireland's Reading score of 482 was high compared to many other countries, it was much lower than the 497 achieved in 2015.

That was similar to the Northern Ireland score in Maths of 473 - higher than many other countries but lower than 2015.

Girls in Northern Ireland achieved much better reading scores than boys, but similar scores in Science and Maths.

The results also show, though, that family income influences how a pupil will do in education.

Put bluntly, the better off their family is the better results a pupil is likely to get in school.

Northern Ireland's average scores in the tests were well above Wales, similar to Scotland but behind England.

15 year olds in Ireland performed well with higher scores in Reading, Science and Maths than Northern Ireland and other UK countries.

But the best performing countries in the tests were in Asia - Singapore, China, Taiwan and Japan.

However, the Pisa report warned of a worldwide decline in teenagers' reading skills.

The Pisa assessment also suggests growing use of AI to study.

Fifteen year olds who take part in Pisa are also asked about how they find school and how they study.

Across all 91 countries, almost half of students (46%) said they used AI chatbots weekly or more to learn.

But over a quarter (28%) said that some of their fellow students were distracted by digital devices in class.

In a statement, the Education Minister Paul Givan called the Pisa results a "wake-up call".

"While Northern Ireland remains a strong-performing education system by international standards, we should not confuse relative success with sufficient progress," he said.

"Whilst pupils in Northern Ireland continue to perform well against other international education systems, it is clear that education systems across the world are facing significant challenges and Northern Ireland is no exception."

He also said the results underlined the need for some of the reforms he had introduced.

The National Secretary of NAHT Northern Ireland, Dr Graham Gault said that while Northern Ireland's results were generally good, they showed that "persistent inequalities and funding pressures must not be ignored".

"The results show clear signs of pressure within the system, including declining performance in some areas and continuing attainment gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers," he said.

"These findings come against a backdrop of severe budget constraints, increasing demands on schools and growing concerns around pupil wellbeing.

"Maintaining high standards becomes ever more difficult when schools are being asked to do more with less."