England has been announced among the highest performing European and Western countries, The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has revealed in their latest global study.

The programme is widely accepted as the international benchmark for academic attainment for secondary school publics and assess 15-year-olds mathematics, reading and science ability and it found that England has significantly outperformed the international average, rising to 11^th in maths compared to 17^th in 2018.

Currently, England has ranked 13^th for both reading and science, which is a major step up from previous years, having been placed 14^th and 13^th in 2018, as well as 16^th in 2009 and the results show significant growth.

The Prime Minister has also introduced the Advanced British Standard (ABS), a new baccalaureate style qualification, which will mean every student in England will study Maths and English until eighteen, equipping them with knowledge and skills for future success in the workplace following an initial £60 million investment to improve maths education.

Rich Lewis Jones, CEO of Sigma Labs, part of The IN Group:

“A strong education system is vital for the future of the UK workforce and it’s also important to look to the pathways on offer beyond school and university. Training providers have an important role to play in bridging the transition from education to the workplace and providing young people with in-demand professional level digital skills and the high-performance behaviours they need. These can build on a strong educational foundation, training young people in core areas such as soft skills, problem-solving, data, software and cloud, which can unlock their potential and bridge the digital skills gap.”

Margo Walford, Found of Change Awards, commented:

“The digital skills crisis is an ongoing issue, and our businesses are struggling to find the necessary people to fill vacancies within their organisations, so it is positive to see the UK rising in the international education rankings. For businesses to grow and foster an environment for innovation to take place we must furnish the younger generations with the skills and knowledge they need, supporting the goal of becoming a technology superpower. 

“The newly announced schemes are designed to support all young people to gain much-needed skills and must be supported by businesses offering further training opportunities. The future generations will be the engine behind change and innovation, and cultivating that change mindset is key, so providing educational and training opportunities from school leavers age, throughout university and into the workplace is vital.”

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said: “These results are a testament to our incredible teachers, the hard work of students and to the government’s unrelenting drive to raise school standards over the past 13 years.   

“Taken together with our children being named ‘Best in the West’ for reading earlier this year, England is now firmly cemented as one of the top performing countries for education in the western world.”