The education reform policy research team at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), led by Pongsath Vanichanan and Suphanat Sasiwutthiwat, analyzed the PISA 2025 results. PISA assesses the competencies of 15-year-old students internationally every three years, monitoring education quality trends across three domains. Thai students averaged 432 in science, 407 in mathematics, and 392 in reading. The results show improvement across these subjects compared to 2022. However, it is premature to confirm a turning point for Thai education, as scores have not yet returned to the peak levels achieved in 2012. Notably, about 6 in 10 Thai students still lack basic skills in reading and mathematics.
The TDRI education reform policy team emphasized that the critical question is not only how much scores have increased but what underlies this recovery and whether these factors can sustain educational quality improvements. Their analysis found that Thai students taking PISA 2025 came from families with improved readiness, as measured by an index of socioeconomic and cultural status based on parents’ education, occupations, and household resources, which increased significantly compared to previous assessments.
Similarly, schools showed better resource readiness, especially improvements in issues like teacher shortages, quality deficits, lack of support staff, and educational materials scarcity, all of which have markedly decreased. Nonetheless, improved resources alone do not fully explain the score increases, as school efficiency and teaching quality also play roles in the score recovery.
"Interestingly, classroom experiences show positive signs compared to the past decade. Students report increased support from science teachers, greater attention to learning, continued teaching until students understand, and more opportunities for students to express opinions. Importantly, in 2025, the proportion of Thai students receiving such teacher support exceeded the OECD average in all areas," the team noted.
The TDRI education reform policy team also pointed to another factor potentially linked to the score increase: the PISA preparatory program during the 2024–2025 academic years. This program developed materials, trained teachers, and ran literacy development activities for about one million grade 8–9 students, including a Chatbot for practicing PISA-style questions and personalized guidance. These preparations may have improved students’ analytical thinking and familiarity with exam formats and computer-based testing, although evidence on the program’s direct impact on scores remains inconclusive.
"The challenge after PISA 2025 is whether Thailand can sustain this recovery trend. Lessons from 2012 showed that although Thai scores rose and raised hopes for better education quality, the lack of systematic follow-up and continuous development led to declines by 2022. Even with recent improvements, it remains difficult to achieve consistent gains every cycle. The key task ahead is to clearly identify which factors genuinely enhance learning and to scale them up widely and sustainably, turning this recovery into a true starting point for elevating education quality, not just a temporary rebound," stated the TDRI education policy team.
Full analysis available at https://tdri.or.th/2026/09/pisa-2025-thailand-recovery-education-system/