39% of Dutch 15-year-olds fall below student assessment study’s minimum reading level

About 39% of 15-year-olds in the Netherlands scored below level 2 in reading in the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study, the minimum level considered necessary to participate in society, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported Tuesday.

In 2018, one in four Dutch 15-year-olds had insufficient reading skills, while the 2023 study found that nearly one-third scored below level 2.

Dutch teens also scored significantly lower in reading than their peers in economically and socially comparable EU countries.

Only Greece recorded a lower score.

More than 6,600 15-year-old students from 177 schools in the Netherlands took part in the digital assessment.

Globally, about 760,000 students from 91 countries participated.

The study found that the type of secondary education and parents’ educational background were associated with differences in reading performance.

Students in pre-university education scored higher than those in vocational secondary education, while children whose parents had completed higher education generally had higher reading scores.

The Leescoalitie, an alliance of organizations promoting reading, described the figures as “worrying” and urged greater efforts to promote reading in schools and outside education.

State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science Judith Tielen said the government would present an action plan in the fall, stressing that reading skills are important for school, work and everyday life.

“We cannot afford any further decline. We must raise the bar, with higher expectations of students, teachers, schools, and the Ministry and the Inspectorate,” said Tielen.

The PISA study also found that average scores in mathematics and natural sciences remained stable in the Netherlands, although Dutch students reported less enjoyment of natural sciences than students in other European countries.