British pupils slip down world rank in key subjects

British pupils are doing worse at key school subjects than those in much of the rest of the world, a damning report shows.

The study published today shows teenagers in the UK have slipped further down world education rankings in reading, maths and science.

Countries including Poland and Norway have overtaken "stagnant" Britain in the last four years.

The UK fell from 17th to 25th out of 65 countries for reading, according to a study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

In maths, Britain has dropped from 24th to 28th. The study assessed how well students could use their knowledge and skills in real life, rather than just repeating facts and figures.

The British results remained similar to those in the 2006 study, but other nations have improved, leading to the UK dropping down the rankings.

The study shows that Iceland and Norway have overtaken the UK in reading skills, while Slovakia and Norway are now ahead of Britain in maths.

Andreas Schleicher, head of the OECD's programme for international student assessment, said: "I think the picture is stagnant at best, whereas many other countries have seen quite significant improvement."