The best countries in the world to get an education

Singapore has the highest achieving students in the world, according to the latest influential OECD rankings

Education Correspondent

Thursday 08 December 2016 16:12 GMT

Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

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1/20Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Singapore

Singapore was the top performing country across all three subjects (maths, science and reading) in the 2015 PISA tables. The small Asian country is renowned for its high academic standards and produces excellent results, particularly in mathematics. Pupils here learn maths by what is known as the “mastery method,” which teaches children how to solve problems as a class and errs away from more traditional recitations of formulae. Singapore selects its teachers from the top 5 per cent of graduates, and teachers are very highly regarded as societal influencers.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Japan

Japanese schools came in 2nd for Science, 5th in the world for maths and 8th for reading skills. Japan has one of the best-education populations, with zero illiteracy recorded and strong emphasis on arithmetic and geography. While children around the world typically learn between 26 and 33 letters of the alphabet, Japanese pupils will know 1,006 kanji characters by the time they leave primary school.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Estonia

Dubbed the “new Finland” by some, Estonia has risen rapidly towards the top of the Pisa rankings despite being one of the world’s youngest countries. Estonia spends around 4 per cent of GDP on education.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Taipei

Taiwan has been known as a centre for technical excellence for decades and its students perform consistently well in technology, maths and sciences. Education is compulsory from age six, and some 95 per cent of all students continue their education after age 15.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Finland

Children in Finland don’t start school under age seven, yet consistently produce some of the best results in the world. The country’s education system has a somewhat alternative approach to that of most OECD countries, placing emphasis on playtime and creative learning. Pupils don’t sit tests until they reach 16.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Macau

Most schools in Macau are private or subsidized. There are only a handful of government or state schools, which tend to teach in Portuguese or have a strong emphasis on pupils learning the language. The majority of schools are also selective grammar schools which focus heavily on languages, mathematics and sciences over vocational subjects.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Hong Kong

A former UK colony, Hong Kong education has been closely modelled on the British system in the past,. Education is free and compulsory in primary and junior secondary schools. Independent schools follow the International Baccalaureate, UK or US curricula. The territory participates separately from China (Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu, Guangdong) in the Pisa league tables.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

South Korea

South Korea has long been one of the world’s top academic achievers, but at the price of very long school days for students. Many start school by 8am, and carry on until late at night at private study clubs.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

New Zealand

While the New Zealand school curriculum is not dissimilar to the UK’s, children here are not required to start school until age six. The country also has eight state-funded universities offering degrees in a range of subjects.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

China

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Slovenia

Slovenia scored highly in this year’s maths and science results. Basic education for children ages six to 15 is compulsory and free for children in Slovenia. International citizens are taught the Slovenian language at the beginning of school.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Australia

Australian Pisa candidates came in 14th place for Science, 15th place for reading and 23rd place for Maths – slipping down in the ranks on previous years. Australia has the third highest number of international students in the world behind the UK and US, despite having a much lower population overall. The school system is split mainly into government state-funded schools, Catholic faith schools and independent fee-paying schools.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

United Kingdom

The UK jumped to 15th place for science in this year’s Pisa tables, up from 21st in 2012. According to the report, teachers in the UK are among the youngest across all developed countries. The total amount spent on British education exceeds that of most other participating countries – and critics argue the education system should provide better results because of this.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Germany

Schooling in Germany is governed by individual states, which each have their own education departments and policies. Normally, children begin primary school at age six but secondary school options vary widely. Germany increased its expenditure on educational institutions from primary to post-secondary non-tertiary levels, despite declining enrolments, and teachers have competitive salaries compared to others as a result.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Netherlands

Dutch children were found to be the happiest in the world in a 2013 Unicef study. Schools typically don't give much homework until secondary level and students report little pressure and stress.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Switzerland

Just five per cent of children attend private schools in Switzerland. Lessons are taught in different languages depending on the region of Switzerland, with German, French or Italian the most common languages of instruction. From secondary onwards students are separated by ability.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Ireland

The majority of secondary schools in Ireland are privately owned and managed but state-funded, but there are also state comprehensives and vocational schools. The country performed especially well in Pisa reading tests - coming in fifth place globally.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Belgium

Belgian schools came in 15th place for science in this year’s Pisa table. Schools here are free, and regulated and financed by three separate communities – Flemish, French and German-speaking. Boys in Belgium perform significantly better than girls in school according the latest OECD reports.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Vietnam

Education in Vietnam is state run system of public and private schools. The country took part in the Pisa tests for the first time in 2012 and scored higher in reading, maths and science than the UK and US. This is believed to be partly a result of high spending levels on education and hardworking culture instilled in children from a young age.

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Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education

Canada

Education is compulsory up the age of 16 in most Canadian provinces, apart from Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick where pupils must stay on until 18 or when high school diploma is achieved. The education system varies between French and English-speaking provinces.

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Latest global education league tables have ranked children in Singapore as the top performing pupils in the world for maths, science and literacy skills.

Results from the presitigous Programme for International Assessment (Pisa) are published once every three years and aim to chart educational standards across the developed world.

While alternative educators Finland and Estonia - the former particularly hailed for its creative curriculum focusing on play - near the top of the tables, Asian schools perform consistently well in the tests.

The UK jumped ahead to 14th place in sciences this year, but experts have criticised the country's failing maths scores.

Once broken down into devolved countries, the UK's results are even more inconsistent - Welsh schools performed particularly poorly in this year's assessment, leading to empassioned MPs accusing the Welsh First Minister of "failing a generation" in light of the results.

Over half a million students took place in the most recent tests, representing 28 million 15-year-olds in 72 countries and economies.

The Pisa test is designed by education experts around the world and is used to judge whether students can apply what they have learnt in school to real life situations.

It mainly covers science, reading and mathematics, with practical questions on financial problem solving and literacy.

Critics argue that the Pisa rankings are a poor judgement of learning quality, however and are arbitrary at best.

It is certainly the case that education systems with a strong focus on mathematics and problem solving - such as Singapore and Hong Kong - will fare well in these particular assessments.

The tests are unable to take into account a number of other factors that contribute towards successful education systems, however, for instance the arts and more creative subjects, or pupil satisfaction.

They do however provide a wealth of data from across the globe that can be useful in analysing successful and unsuccessful teaching and school systems.

Here are 20 of the best performing countries for education in the world.

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