Kazakhstan records long-term gains in science as math scores fall in PISA 2025

Published on September 8, PISA 2025 Results (Volume I) puts Kazakhstan’s average scores at 420 points in science, 385 in reading and 414 in math, below the corresponding OECD averages of 482, 461 and 463.

Foundational skills remain a major challenge. Some 41.1% of Kazakhstani 15-year-olds performed below Level 2, the baseline proficiency threshold, in all three subjects simultaneously, compared with 19.7% across the OECD. Only 1.4% reached the highest proficiency levels in at least one of the three subjects, against an OECD average of 11.9%.

Kazakhstan’s strongest long-term progress was in science. The OECD estimated its average ten-year improvement at 34 points, using a trend calculated across assessments between 2015 and 2025 rather than simply comparing the first and last scores. Only Cambodia, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia recorded larger estimated gains, while the Dominican Republic matched Kazakhstan.

Over the same period, Kazakhstan’s estimated reading trend showed no statistically significant change, while its math trend was negative.

Results since the previous assessment were less encouraging. Between 2022 and 2025, science fell by 4 points and reading by 1 point, neither a statistically significant change. Math declined by a statistically significant 12 points, while the share of low performers in science increased by 2.8 percentage points.

Socioeconomic differences in science performance were smaller than the OECD average. Advantaged students outscored disadvantaged peers by 41 points, compared with an 85-point gap across OECD countries. Socioeconomic status accounted for 4.6% of the variation in Kazakhstan’s science scores, against 11.6% across the OECD. These smaller gaps, however, coexist with a high proportion of students lacking baseline skills.

Girls scored 5 points higher than boys in science and 27 points higher in reading, while boys led by 9 points in math. The OECD noted that Kazakhstan’s math gender gap widened because results deteriorated for both groups, with a larger decline among girls.

Students’ and schools’ reports pointed to comparatively favorable classroom conditions. Kazakhstan recorded higher disciplinary-climate and teacher-support indexes than the OECD averages. Some 53.4% of students attended schools reporting no teacher shortages, compared with 28.8% across the OECD.

Elsewhere in Central Asia, Uzbekistan averaged 438 points in science, ahead of Kazakhstan. Its 83-point increase since 2022 was the largest single-cycle gain among participants. However, the OECD is reporting Uzbekistan’s results only for science and the digital world assessment after identifying inconsistencies in math and reading responses that undermined comparability. Kyrgyzstan scored 363 points in science, while the Dushanbe sample in Tajikistan scored 334.

The assessment also highlighted the growing role of artificial intelligence in Kazakhstan’s classrooms. Some 47% of students said they used AI chatbots at least weekly to help them learn, close to the OECD average of 45.5%.

Instruction on evaluating AI output was more widespread than the OECD average: 80.2% of Kazakhstani students said they were being taught to assess AI-generated information in lessons, compared with 62.6%. Meanwhile, 52.1% reported no distraction from digital devices, against 39.2% across the OECD.

Earlier, Qazinform reported that 24 Astana high school students spent two days learning to recognize and counter cyberbullying at an EU-backed workshop.