Aragón scored 482 points in science, 461 in reading and 462 in mathematics. These are the results of PISA, the international programme through which the OECD assesses every three years the extent to which 15-year-old students can apply their knowledge and skills in different areas to the real world. Spain scored 477, 451 and 457 points, respectively. The widest gap is therefore in reading comprehension, where students in Aragón are ten points ahead of the national average. In the other two areas, the difference is five points.
The comparison with Europe presents a similar picture. Aragón matches the OECD in science and reading, scoring 482 and 461 points, respectively. It also slightly outperforms the European Union, which records 481 points in science and 459 in reading. Only in mathematics does it fall below both benchmarks, although by the smallest of margins: its score of 462 is one point below the 463 recorded by both the OECD and the EU.
The region also fails to reach the top of the ranking among Spain’s autonomous communities. In science, Aragón ranks eighth, behind Madrid (495), Castilla y León (493), Asturias (492), Cantabria (490), Galicia (486), Castilla-La Mancha (485) and La Rioja (484). In reading, Asturias leads with 471 points, followed by Madrid (469) and Castilla y León (466), while Aragón shares its score of 461 with Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha and La Rioja.
ARAGÓN RECORDS ITS WORST SCIENCE RESULT IN A DECADE
The comparison with ten years ago makes the setback clearer. Aragón scored 482 points in science, 26 fewer than in 2015, when it reached 508. The region retains a better position than Spain, but records its worst result in this area over the past decade covered by the report. Spain has also declined, although by less: it fell from 493 points in 2015 to 477 in 2025, a drop of 16 points. Over the same period, the comparable OECD average fell by seven points.
The average score does not tell the whole story either. Around 22% of students in Aragón fail to reach level 2 in science, which is considered the minimum level of proficiency. This proportion is lower than Spain’s and also below the OECD and EU benchmarks. At the other end of the scale, approximately 4% reach the highest levels, 5 and 6. Madrid and Castilla y León are the communities with the fewest students at the lower levels, with percentages close to 18%.
In reading, Aragón records its greatest advantage over the country as a whole. Its 461 points are ten more than Spain’s 451, equal to the OECD average and two more than the European Union’s 459. Ahead of it are, among others, Asturias (471), Madrid (469) and Castilla y León (466).
Aragón’s result also improves when looking at students facing the greatest difficulties. Nearly 29% of students in Aragón fall below the minimum level in reading, and the report explicitly includes the region among the territories with better percentages on this indicator than the OECD and the EU. Aragón shares this group with Madrid, Castilla y León, Asturias, Castilla-La Mancha, Cantabria, La Rioja and Galicia.
The other side of the picture concerns high-performing students. No Spanish autonomous community manages to surpass the OECD or the EU in the percentage of students reaching reading levels 5 and 6. Aragón is at around 3% in these categories.
MATHEMATICS SCORES FALL 25 POINTS SINCE THE PREVIOUS PISA
Mathematics provides another major warning sign for Aragón. Students in the region scored 462 points, five more than Spain’s average but one fewer than the OECD and the European Union. Madrid once again tops the regional table with 477 points, followed by Castilla y León (472), Cantabria (470), Asturias (469) and Galicia (466). Aragón shares its score with Castilla-La Mancha, La Rioja and Navarra.
The problem emerges when the score is compared with the previous assessment. Aragón lost 25 points in mathematics between PISA 2022 and PISA 2025, and the report considers this decline statistically significant. Spain lost 16 points over the same period. Aragón’s fall is therefore among the sharpest in the country. Asturias lost 26 points; Castilla y León, 27; La Rioja, 30; Navarra, 31; and the Valencian Community, 38.
In addition, nearly one-third of students in Aragón fail to reach the minimum level in mathematics, while around 4% reach levels 5 and 6. The problem of low rates of excellence is not exclusive to Aragón: no autonomous community surpasses the OECD or the EU in the percentage of students at the highest levels of mathematics.
MORE HOMOGENEOUS RESULTS AMONG STUDENTS
Scores are falling, but PISA also portrays an Aragonese system with smaller gaps between its students than those observed internationally. Aragón’s interquartile range in science is 133 points, compared with 141 for the OECD and 152 for the European Union. This indicator measures the distance between the results of different groups of students; the lower it is, the greater the homogeneity. All Spanish autonomous communities record lower values than the two international benchmarks.
Aragón, however, is not among the group that, according to the criterion used in the report, combines high performance in science with greater equity. That quadrant includes Madrid, Castilla y León, Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia, Castilla-La Mancha and La Rioja.
The report also highlights a particular feature concerning science classes. Aragón is among the communities where students who say they are not taking these subjects at the time of the assessment achieve slightly higher results than those who are studying them, with differences of between 3 and 15 points depending on the territory. PISA warns that this does not mean that not studying science improves performance, and points to the academic composition of the student body and the different pathways followed at the end of compulsory education as possible explanations.
