News of the week in plain Finnish | Saturday 12.9.2026

Finland’s Pisa results have deteriorated further.

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Pisa study and Finland

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Photo: Terhi Liimu / Yle

There has been a lot of talk this week about the Pisa results of Finnish schoolchildren.

The PISA study is an international study. It measures the skills of 15-year-olds in different countries. The study is conducted every 3 years.

Finland used to be at the forefront of research. Now the results have been deteriorating for many years.

Let’s tell you more about Pisa now.

Literacy

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The Pisa results of Finnish youth have deteriorated again. In particular, literacy has dropped significantly. Finland is now in 17th place in literacy, tied with Italy.

In natural sciences, Finland is still better than average and ranked 12th.

In mathematics, Finland is tied for 22nd place with Slovakia.

In Finland, competence has fallen more in 10 years than in most other countries in the study.

There were a total of 91 participating countries.

Natural Sciences

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Finland’s Pisa results were at the top in 2006. For example, in science, Finland was in first place. In literacy and mathematics, Finland was in second place.

Since then, the results have deteriorated.

In Finland, the differences within schools have grown a lot. In other parts of the world, there are many differences between different schools.

What is new in Finland is that the skills have now declined the most among children from so-called well-off families.

For example, young people in Estonia performed better than in Finland. Experts estimate that education is highly valued in Estonia.

In Finland, many young people may not see as clearly how education affects their future life.

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Reasons for poor success

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Photo: Pekka Sipilä / Yle

Researchers say there are many reasons for the poor performance.

Children and young people read too little. They have difficulty concentrating. Only 41 percent of students try harder if the work seems difficult.

Phones and other digital devices easily distract attention. Teaching groups are often too large. People with an immigrant background do not always have sufficient knowledge of Finnish or Swedish.

The teaching profession says that teachers should be able to focus specifically on teaching.

Repetition

Let’s say it again.

The Pisa results of Finnish youth have deteriorated again. In particular, reading skills have declined significantly.

In Finland, competence has fallen more in 10 years than in most comparison countries.

Here was the News of the Week in plain Finnish. See you again, bye!