London teenagers 'half a school year behind world's other pupils'

Falling behind: Pupils in London are not doing as well as peers in other cities
David Davies/PA Wire
Laura Proto25 February 2016

Teenagers in London are falling about half a school year behind pupils in other cities and regions around the world, a study has claimed.

Secondary school pupils in Shanghai, China, are said to be about three years ahead of students in the capital in maths alone.

The study, by researchers at the UCL Institute of Education, used data collected from the 2009 and 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests which measure the abilities of 15-year-olds in reading, maths and science.

The results from 1,057 London pupils were compared with others around the world, with students in the capital consistently outperformed in all three areas by teenagers in Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Maastricht, Helsinki, Milan, the Australian states of Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia, and Massachusetts and Connecticut in the United States.

Only the top 10 per cent of London's 15-year-olds could match the maths skills of the average Shanghai teenager, according to the study.

London teenagers did outperform some of their peers internationally - they were up to two years ahead of the poorest performing places, including Rio de Janiero and Mexico State.

A Department for Education spokesman said: "London has been a real success story, particularly in improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, as the report authors acknowledge, and our reformed world-class qualifications are ensuring all pupils have the chance to fulfil their potential.

"This report is based on a small sample of schools and uses data from 2012, and doesn't take into account the impact of many of our reforms, so should be treated with caution.

“Nonetheless we are determined to build on our progress, which has led to 1.4 million more pupils in good or outstanding schools since 2010."

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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