Key findings
- In PISA 2022, 15-year-old students in the Philippines scored on average 355 points in mathematics, 347 in reading and 356 in science, against OECD averages of 472, 476 and 485 (OECD, Education GPS, PISA 2022 database).
- In PISA 2022, 16 percent of Philippine students attained at least Level 2 proficiency in mathematics (OECD average 69 percent), 24 percent in reading (OECD 74 percent) and 23 percent in science (OECD 76 percent); the OECD reports that almost no students were top performers (Level 5 or 6) in any subject.
- The OECD states that Philippine average results in 2022 were about the same as in 2018 in all three subjects, that the share below Level 2 did not change significantly, and that all Philippine data met PISA quality standards. The Philippines first participated in PISA in 2018.
- In TIMSS 2019 at Grade 4, the Philippines recorded an average of 297 score points in mathematics (standard error 6.4) and 249 in science (standard error 7.5), on a scale whose centrepoint is 500; in both subjects it is the last country listed in the achievement exhibit. IEA attaches reliability reservations to both estimates because the percentage of students with achievement too low for estimation exceeded 15 percent (mathematics) and 25 percent (science).
- In TIMSS 2019, 19 percent of Philippine Grade 4 students reached the Low International Benchmark (400 points) in mathematics and 13 percent in science; 6 and 5 percent reached Intermediate (475); 1 percent reached High (550) in each; none reached Advanced (625).
- In SEA-PLM 2024, the Philippine Grade 5 national average in mathematics was 292.8 (standard error 0.93), up 4.9 points from 287.9 in 2019, which the report marks as a significant increase; in reading it was 289.5 (1.01), up 1.8 from 287.7, marked as no significant change. A change of 13 to 15 points equals one proficiency band.
- SEA-PLM reports a 9 percentage-point rise in Philippine Grade 5 learners at Band 6 and above in mathematics and a 3 percentage-point rise in reading between 2019 and 2024, with the share at very low proficiency stable in both domains. UNICEF Philippines puts the levels at 17 to 26 in 100 (mathematics) and 10 to 14 in 100 (reading).
- The Philippines does not appear in IEA's Exhibit A.1 of TIMSS 2023 participants; Evidence Atlas reads this as indicating it did not take part in that cycle. IEA makes no statement about it.
Numbers matrix: one row per figure, with its own scale
Showing all 15 rows.
| Assessment and cycle | Population and sample | Metric | Philippines | Comparator | Flags | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PISA 2022 | 15-year-olds in school; 7,193 students in 188 schools | Mean score, mathematics | 355 | OECD average 472 | Data met PISA quality standards | Source 2; Source 1 Figure 2, PDF p. 3 |
| PISA 2022 | As above | Mean score, reading | 347 | OECD average 476 | As above | Source 2 |
| PISA 2022 | As above | Mean score, science | 356 | OECD average 485 | As above | Source 2 |
| PISA 2022 | As above | Share at Level 2 or above, mathematics (%) | 16 | OECD average 69 | Level 2 is the PISA baseline, not a pass mark | Source 1, PDF p. 3 |
| PISA 2022 | As above | Share at Level 2 or above, reading (%) | 24 | OECD average 74 | As above | Source 1, PDF p. 4 |
| PISA 2022 | As above | Share at Level 2 or above, science (%) | 23 | OECD average 76 | As above | Source 1, PDF p. 4 |
| TIMSS 2019 | Grade 4; sample size not in extracted pages | Mean score, mathematics (SE) | 297 (6.4) | Scale centrepoint 500 | IEA reliability reservation (15 to 25 percent too low for estimation); population coverage note | Source 3 Exhibit 1.1, PDF p. 27 |
| TIMSS 2019 | As above | Mean score, science (SE) | 249 (7.5) | Scale centrepoint 500 | IEA reliability reservation (over 25 percent too low for estimation); population coverage note | Source 3 Exhibit 2.1 (science), PDF p. 98 |
| TIMSS 2019 | As above | Share at or above Low benchmark (400), mathematics (%) (SE) | 19 (1.8) | Intermediate 6; High 1; Advanced 0 | Cumulative shares; same reservations | Source 3 Exhibit 1.8, PDF p. 56 |
| TIMSS 2019 | As above | Share at or above Low benchmark (400), science (%) (SE) | 13 (1.4) | Intermediate 5; High 1; Advanced 0 | Cumulative shares; same reservations | Source 3 Exhibit 2.8, PDF p. 127 |
| SEA-PLM 2024 | Grade 5; 5,070 students in 156 schools; data collected 22 April to 10 May 2024 | National average, mathematics (SE) | 292.8 (0.93) | 2019: 287.9 (0.84); change +4.9, significant | Two different cohorts; 13 to 15 points equals one band | Source 5 Table 3.2 |
| SEA-PLM 2024 | As above | National average, reading (SE) | 289.5 (1.01) | 2019: 287.7 (0.91); change +1.8, not significant | As above | Source 5 Table 3.1 |
| SEA-PLM 2024 | As above | Change in share at Band 6 and above, mathematics | +9 points | UNICEF Philippines: 17 to 26 in 100 | Change from report text; levels from UNICEF Philippines | Source 5 p. 69; Source 6 |
| SEA-PLM 2024 | As above | Change in share at Band 6 and above, reading | +3 points | UNICEF Philippines: 10 to 14 in 100 | Significance not settled from report text; do not compute change from the rounded UNICEF endpoints | Source 5 p. 68; Source 6 |
| SEA-PLM 2024 | As above | Share at very low proficiency (Band 2 and below) | stable vs 2019 | Region: 15 (reading), 9 (mathematics) | Philippine value printed only in figure images; not reproduced | Source 5 pp. 64 to 65 |
Rows hidden by the filter buttons remain in the page; the filter only changes what is displayed. Evidence Atlas computes from the published shares that 84, 76 and 77 percent of Philippine 15-year-olds scored below Level 2 in mathematics, reading and science (PISA 2022), and that about 81 percent (mathematics) and 87 percent (science) of Grade 4 students did not reach the TIMSS Low benchmark; the TIMSS complements are approximations from rounded published values with standard errors of 1.8 and 1.4 points.
What each benchmark means, in the source's own terms
The headline shares above use three different yardsticks. Open each one to read what its benchmark describes, in the source's words.
PISA Level 2, the baseline level (OECD)
The OECD describes students at Level 2 or above as able, at a minimum, to interpret and recognise without direct instruction how a simple situation can be represented mathematically (mathematics); to identify the main idea in a text of moderate length, find information based on explicit though sometimes complex criteria, and reflect on the purpose and form of texts when directed (reading); and to recognise the correct explanation for familiar scientific phenomena and use that knowledge to identify, in simple cases, whether a conclusion is valid (science). Top performers are at Level 5 or 6. PISA reports scores on a scale with an OECD mean near 500 when the scale was set; the Philippine means and OECD averages in the matrix are on that scale (Source 1, PDF pp. 3 to 4).
TIMSS International Benchmarks: 625, 550, 475, 400 (IEA)
TIMSS describes achievement at four points on its scale: Advanced (625), High (550), Intermediate (475) and Low (400). The percentages published for each benchmark are cumulative: the share of students at or above that point. So the Philippine mathematics figures read 0, 1, 6 and 19 percent from Advanced down to Low, and science 0, 1, 5 and 13 percent. The TIMSS scale has a centrepoint of 500. IEA prints reliability symbols against the Philippine rows: in mathematics, reservations because the percentage of students with achievement too low for estimation exceeds 15 percent but does not exceed 25 percent; in science, the same reservation where that percentage exceeds 25 percent (Source 3: PDF p. 53 for the benchmark points, Exhibit 1.8 on p. 56 for the mathematics shares, Exhibit 2.8 on p. 127 for the science shares, and pp. 27 and 98 for the reliability legends).
SEA-PLM proficiency bands, and the 2024 change from Band 6 to Band 5 (SEAMEO and UNICEF)
SEA-PLM reports Grade 5 results on scales with numbered bands, from Band 2 and below (very low proficiency) up to Band 6 and above, the category the report says is expected to be mastered by all children at the end of primary education under the participating countries' curricula. The report states that a change of 13 to 15 points corresponds to one full proficiency band.
For the 2024 cycle, the SEA-PLM Secretariat and the participating countries agreed to benchmark SDG indicator 4.1.1b (minimum proficiency at the end of primary) against the lowest boundary of Band 5 in both domains, replacing the Band 6-and-above benchmark adopted in 2020, and recomputed the 2019 figures on the same basis; the report says further item analysis suggested the earlier benchmark was too stringent against global standards. On the Band 5 basis, 53 percent of children across the six-country region met the reading benchmark in 2024 (46 percent in 2019) and 68 percent in mathematics (56 percent in 2019); 36 percent reached Band 6 and above in reading and 52 percent in mathematics (40 percent in 2019); 15 percent in reading and 9 percent in mathematics were at very low proficiency. These are regional, not Philippine, figures, and the report notes that not all of the SDG differences were statistically tested (Source 5, PDF pp. 5, 64 to 72).
PISA 2022: 15-year-olds, second Philippine cycle
The Philippines participated in PISA for the first time in 2018; PISA 2022 was postponed from 2021 because of the pandemic. In the Philippines 7,193 students in 188 schools completed the assessment, representing about 1,782,900 15-year-olds, an estimated 83 percent of the country's 15-year-old population. The OECD states that all Philippine data met the quality standards set by PISA.
| Subject | All students | Boys | Girls | Bar (all students) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 84 | 86 | 82 | |
| Reading | 76 | 82 | 71 | |
| Science | 77 | not printed | not printed |
The "all students" shares are 100 minus the OECD's published Level 2-or-above shares (16, 24, 23), computed by Evidence Atlas; the boy and girl shares are as printed by the OECD.
Other OECD findings for the Philippines: girls outperformed boys by 14 score points in mathematics and 35 in reading; 36 percent of students were in the bottom international socio-economic quintile, with a mathematics mean of 344; advantaged students (top national quarter) outperformed disadvantaged students (bottom quarter) by 36 points, against an OECD average gap of 93, and socio-economic status accounted for 5 percent of the variation in Philippine mathematics performance, against an OECD average of 15 percent; 55 percent of students reported their school building was closed for more than three months during COVID-19; 25 percent reported having repeated a grade at least once (OECD average 9 percent). Between 2018 and 2022, average results were about the same in all three subjects and the share below Level 2 did not change significantly.
TIMSS 2019: Grade 4, with reliability reservations
In TIMSS 2019 at Grade 4, the Philippines recorded an average of 297 score points in mathematics (standard error 6.4) and 249 in science (standard error 7.5), on a scale whose centrepoint is 500. In both subjects it is the last country listed in the achievement exhibit, below every other country shown (58 country rows, counted by Evidence Atlas; benchmarking participants such as Dubai and Ontario are listed separately). Any use of these figures must carry IEA's reservation about reliability, printed against the Philippine rows, and the population coverage note.
| Benchmark (scale point) | Mathematics % | Science % | Bar (mathematics) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced (625) | 0 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) | |
| High (550) | 1 (0.2) | 1 (0.3) | |
| Intermediate (475) | 6 (0.8) | 5 (0.7) | |
| Low (400) | 19 (1.8) | 13 (1.4) |
Evidence Atlas computes from these published shares that about 81 percent of Philippine Grade 4 students in mathematics and 87 percent in science did not reach the Low International Benchmark; these complements come from rounded values with standard errors of 1.8 and 1.4 points and are not IEA statistics.
SEA-PLM 2024: Grade 5, second cycle, compared with 2019
SEA-PLM 2024 in the Philippines covered 156 participating schools and 5,070 Grade 5 students, with a weighted school response rate of 96.7 percent for sampled schools (97.3 percent including substitutes) and a student response rate of 96.8 percent. The target population covered 97.11 percent of 2,352,218 enrolled Grade 5 learners; data were collected from 22 April to 10 May 2024. The sample is two-stage: schools selected with probability proportional to Grade 5 enrolment, then one class per school with all its children. The 2019 and 2024 results are two different cohorts.
| Domain | 2019 | 2024 | Change | Report's significance marking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 287.7 (0.91) | 289.5 (1.01) | +1.8 (1.31) | No significant change |
| Mathematics | 287.9 (0.84) | 292.8 (0.93) | +4.9 (1.25) | Significant increase |
The report states that the Philippines, with Lao PDR, demonstrated no significant change across the reading proficiency levels between the 2019 and 2024 cohorts, and that the proportion of Philippine students in the higher bands increased while the proportion in the lowest bands remained unchanged, a pattern the report characterises as suggesting wider dispersion of results. It records stable numbers of very low proficiency learners (Band 2 and below) in both domains, a 3 percentage-point increase in high-proficiency readers (Band 6 and above), and a 9 percentage-point increase in high-proficiency mathematics students.
UNICEF Philippines, a co-publisher of SEA-PLM, reports the levels: in mathematics, learners at Band 6 and above rose from 17 in 100 in 2019 to 26 in 100 in 2024; in reading, from 10 in 100 to 14 in 100. The report's stated changes (9 and 3 points) are the figures to cite as changes; the UNICEF endpoints are rounded, and the reading pair does not reproduce the report's 3 points exactly.
Why "minimum proficiency" needs a year attached. SEA-PLM moved its SDG 4.1.1b benchmark from Band 6 and above to the lower boundary of Band 5 for the 2024 report and recomputed 2019 on the same basis. A Philippine share "at minimum proficiency" is not printed in the report text extracted for this Drop, so none is given here. Regional figures are in the benchmark panel above.
Which cycles the Philippines joined
| Programme | Cycle | Population | Philippine participation | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PISA (OECD) | 2018 | 15-year-olds | Yes, first participation | Source 1, PDF p. 2 |
| PISA (OECD) | 2022 | 15-year-olds | Yes; data met quality standards | Source 1, PDF pp. 2, 5 |
| TIMSS (IEA) | 2019 | Grade 4 | Yes; reliability reservations printed | Source 3 |
| TIMSS (IEA) | 2023 | Grade 4 and 8 | Not listed in IEA's Exhibit A.1 of TIMSS 2023 participants; Evidence Atlas reads this as indicating the Philippines did not take part. IEA makes no statement about it. | Source 4 |
| SEA-PLM (SEAMEO, UNICEF) | 2019 | Grade 5 | Yes | Source 5 |
| SEA-PLM (SEAMEO, UNICEF) | 2024 | Grade 5 | Yes; 156 schools, 5,070 students | Source 5 Table 2.5 |
What this Drop does not do. It does not rank the three results, chain them into a Grade 4 to Grade 5 to age 15 trajectory, or convert one scale into another. Each programme samples a different population, on a different scale, with its own benchmark descriptions and its own quality flags. The only within-programme comparisons here are the ones the sources make: PISA 2018 to 2022 (OECD says about the same) and SEA-PLM 2019 to 2024 (a significant mathematics increase, no significant reading change).
Sources and evidence
- OECD, "PISA 2022 Results: Factsheets, Philippines", December 2023; retrieved 5 September 2026. PDF, 10 pages. Supports CL-02, CL-03, CL-04 and the sample figures; mean scores appear only inside its Figure 2.
- OECD, Education GPS, "Philippines: Student performance (PISA 2022)"; retrieved 5 September 2026. link. OECD web publication of the PISA 2022 database; states the mean scores in text. Supports CL-01.
- Mullis, I. V. S., Martin, M. O., Foy, P., Kelly, D. L., and Fishbein, B., "TIMSS 2019 International Results in Mathematics and Science", IEA and TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College, December 2020; retrieved 5 September 2026. PDF, 609 pages. PDF pages 27 and 98 (achievement exhibits with legends), 53 (benchmark points), 56 and 127 (benchmark shares). Supports CL-05 to CL-07.
- IEA, TIMSS 2023, "Exhibit A.1: Country Participation in TIMSS 2023 and in Earlier TIMSS Assessments", 2024; retrieved 5 September 2026. PDF, 1 page. Supports CL-08 (absence).
- SEAMEO Secretariat and UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, "SEA-PLM 2024 Main Regional Report", December 2025; retrieved 5 September 2026. PDF, 147 pages. PDF pages 41 to 45 (design and samples), 59 to 72 (results, Tables 3.1 and 3.2, SDG benchmark). Supports CL-09 to CL-11, CL-13.
- UNICEF Philippines, "Latest SEA-PLM 2024 reveals more learners in the Philippines reaching higher proficiency in math and reading, but disparities remain", press release, 18 December 2025; retrieved 5 September 2026. link. Supports CL-12 (Band 6-and-above levels).
Claim IDs (CL-…) refer to the Evidence Atlas verified claim register CR-20260905-01 for this Drop. Two further claims in the evidence package (contextual SEA-PLM findings taken from a third-party summary, and a news outlet's band breakdown) were judged to have insufficient evidence and are not used.
Methodology
Every figure was read from the machine-readable text of the source PDFs or from OECD Education GPS text, retrieved on 5 September 2026; no chart images were read. Where a source prints a figure only inside an image (PISA means in the factsheet; SEA-PLM Philippine band shares), the Drop either cites a text source from the same publisher (Education GPS for PISA means) or attributes the figure to a co-publisher's press release (UNICEF Philippines for Band 6-and-above levels), or omits it. Every claim was independently re-verified in a separate pass; that pass corrected two regional SEA-PLM figures and removed a significance label the report does not attach to the Philippine reading change.
Evidence Atlas computations are limited to complements of published shares: 100 minus 16, 24 and 23 (PISA low performers) and 100 minus 19 and 13 (TIMSS below Low benchmark). No scores were converted between scales, and no cross-programme comparison was made. Standard errors are shown wherever the source prints them.
Source hierarchy: the three programmes' own reports first (OECD, IEA, SEAMEO and UNICEF); a co-publisher's press release for one set of levels; no news reporting is relied on for any figure.
Limitations
- PISA, TIMSS and SEA-PLM assess different populations (15-year-olds, Grade 4, Grade 5) on different scales with different benchmarks; nothing here compares one to another.
- PISA Level 2 is the OECD's baseline level, not a pass mark, and each subject has its own Level 2 description. The 84, 76 and 77 percent low-performer shares are computed by Evidence Atlas from published shares.
- The PISA 2018 to 2022 comparison covers two cycles only; PISA 2022 was postponed from 2021.
- The 36-point PISA gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students is a within-country comparison of the national top and bottom quarters on the OECD's socio-economic index, and sits alongside the OECD's finding that socio-economic status explained 5 percent of the variation in Philippine mathematics performance against 15 percent on average across OECD countries; a smaller gap is not by itself a sign of a more equitable system.
- The TIMSS 2019 Philippine estimates carry IEA reliability reservations in both subjects and a population coverage note; the "last listed" statement counts the 58 country rows in the Grade 4 exhibits, some of which assessed a different target grade as IEA flags; the 81 and 87 percent complements are approximations from rounded values.
- Philippine non-participation in TIMSS 2023 is an inference from absence in IEA's participation exhibit, attributed to Evidence Atlas; no motive or decision is evidenced.
- The Philippine SEA-PLM 2024 main survey was administered in English; a Filipino secondary sample collected in about a quarter of schools is not part of the national estimates. SEA-PLM coverage is of enrolled Grade 5 students, so out-of-school children are not covered. A difference the report marks as no significant change is not described here as progress or decline.
- SEA-PLM 2019 and 2024 are two different Grade 5 cohorts. Philippine band-by-band shares, including the share at very low proficiency and at the Band 5 minimum benchmark, are printed only in figure images and Annex 3, which were not used; the Band 6-and-above levels are attributed to UNICEF Philippines. Whether the 3 percentage-point reading change is statistically significant cannot be settled from the extracted report text.
- The SEA-PLM SDG benchmark figures are regional (six countries), not Philippine, and the report notes not all differences were statistically tested.
- TIMSS 2019 Philippine sample size was not extracted.
- Regional and provincial results do not appear here.
Freshness
Freshness class F4 (research). Last verified 5 September 2026. Monitored sources: OECD for PISA 2025 results (the next cycle; release expected 2026 to 2027); IEA for TIMSS 2027 participation lists; SEAMEO and UNICEF for SEA-PLM secondary reports, the Annex 3 tables, and the 2029 cycle. Next expected release: PISA 2025 results, date not announced by OECD at verification. "Updated" for this Drop means a change to a published number, definition, or conclusion, not a routine source check.
Version
v1.1, 5 September 2026. Changelog: v1 initial build (5 September 2026), held at evaluation because one sentence in the benchmark panel stated SEA-PLM band score boundaries that were not in the verified evidence for this Drop. v1.1 removed that sentence; added the OECD variance-explained figures beside the socio-economic gap; added the SEA-PLM language and coverage qualifications; named the TIMSS exhibits and switched all page citations to PDF page numbers; split one key finding into two; added a status line to the matrix filter; removed redundant benchmark buttons; removed a non-standard property from the structured data. No published figure changed. Drop ID D-20260905-9b1e. Evidence package EP-20260905-01; verified claim register CR-20260905-01.