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When you’re feeling exhausted and a little down – and as if the sun no longer exists because why is it dark outside literally ALL THE TIME? –  it’s really important you focus on the positives.

No matter what it is, and no matter how big or small, find it and fixate on it.

Coming up short? Let’s take a look at the results from the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results.

Spoiler alert: England is among the highest performing western countries in education!

We’re performing above the OECD average

15-year-olds in England are performing above the OECD average in the international education league tables, which is definitely a cause for celebration and, let’s be honest, a little bit of a relief.

In fact, the results have revealed that England has significantly outperformed the international average and has continued to take some great strides – especially where maths is concerned.

In 2009, we came 27th in this particular subject, which was a little bit ‘meh’. Fast forward to 2018 and we’d jumped 10 spaces, taking the 17th place.

Now, in 2023, we’re sitting comfortably juuuust outside of the top 10, at spot number 11.

While we didn’t see the same jolly jump in reading and science scores (in 2018, England ranked 14th and 13th for reading and science respectively, and now we rank 13th for both), there are still some positives to put in our pockets.

The OECD average for reading is 476, and English pupils’ average 2023 score reached 496. So, we scored significantly above the average.

Similarly, the average score for science was 503 which far outweighs the OECD average of 485.

Oh, and the study revealed that our primary school children are the best readers in the Western world. Just brilliant.

What do these results mean?

These results may or may not suggest that the government has made some progress in improving our education system (the jury’s still out on that one and probably won’t be back for a while).

But, what it absolutely does demonstrate is that our education staff are amidst some of the best in the world.

We know the last five/ten/fifteen years haven’t been easy and sometimes it must have felt like the whole system was against you – probably still does today– and yet you’re out here surpassing the likes of Germany, Norway, and Sweden.

Oh, and our neighbouring countries Scotland and Wales,…

Does any of this mean our education system is perfect? No, of course not, and neither is the PISA study itself. However, a win is a win and no one can deny that England isn’t moving in the right direction where some key areas of education are concerned.

And that’s the most important thing.