Why are we still surprised about Israel’s low test scores?

The PISA 2025 educational assessment test results paint a deeply troubling picture of achievement among Israeli students. Only 54% of 15-year-olds reached at least the basic proficiency level in mathematics, 59% in reading and 60% in science. In all three subjects, Israel recorded its lowest scores since it began participating in PISA.

But low achievement is only part of the picture. The findings also reveal very large gaps between population groups. In mathematics, only 23% of Arabic-speaking students reached the basic proficiency level, compared with 62% of Hebrew-speaking students. In reading, the figures were 25% and 68%, respectively; in science, 32% and 67%.

Does this really come as a surprise?

Only a few months ago, Israel’s Grade 9 Tnufa assessment results revealed the same pattern: low achievement alongside significant disparities. In mother tongue, for example, only 44% of students in Hebrew-speaking schools met the curriculum requirements, compared with 19% in Arabic-speaking schools. In English, the rates were even lower: 27% and 9%, respectively.

Yesterday, further evidence emerged. Newly released Tnufa results in science and technology showed that only 3% of Grade 9 students met the curriculum requirements.

PISA, then, is not pointing to a new phenomenon. Rather, it reinforces a picture that emerges repeatedly across different assessments: achievement levels that are too low, alongside deep and persistent gaps between population groups.

In responses to the troubling PISA results, some have emphasized that the assessment was conducted after nearly a year and a half of war. The war has clearly had a profound impact on Israel’s education system and may explain part of the decline in achievement. But it cannot explain the very existence of disparities between population groups. These gaps predate the war by many years and have been evident over time across a range of indicators.

The evidence is already before us. There is no need to wait for another assessment to confirm what is already clear. The time has come to move from knowledge to action.

Improving achievement and narrowing educational gaps must stand at the top of Israel’s national priorities, with binding goals, clear accountability for outcomes, external assessment, and effective responses that reach every student. The task is twofold: to raise achievement for all students, while breaking the link between a child’s background and their chances of succeeding in the education system.

The next assessment should not have to tell us, once again, where we stand. It should show that we have already begun to change it.