Get the facts on international education performance

5 June 2024

ITV Sunak V Starmer Debate: fact checked

The first TV debate of the 2024 general election has taken place, with Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer going head-to-head.

3 June 2021

Telegraph columnist wrongly claims literacy at the lowest level in UK history

A Telegraph article was wrong to say literacy was at its lowest level in history, and that every international league table puts the UK near bottom for literacy and numeracy. Neither is true.

14 February 2020

Scotland’s maths and science scores are falling in international tests but rising in national tests

Boris Johnson’s claims about education in Scotland are not all quite right.

17 July 2019

Does the UK have the best education system in the world?

This claim is based on a survey of public perceptions of different educational systems. It is not good data to objectively rank education systems.

10 October 2018

Government school spending figures: correct but misleading

Spending per pupil in England fell by 8% in real terms from 2009/10 to 2017/18, and will be held constant from 2017/18 to 2019/20. UK education spending was about average among OECD countries in 2015.

16 February 2018

Nearly 2 million more children are in good or outstanding schools since 2010

An increasing proportion of children are in ‘good’ schools, while a decreasing proportion are in ‘requires improvement’ schools.

10 March 2017

Is educational attainment in Scotland at record levels?

Figures on attainment in Scotland depend on which measure you prefer to look at.

24 February 2017

The UK's international education ranking

It’s important not to read too much into the UK’s rank alone, or draw conclusions from changes in our rankings about whether our education system is getting better or worse.

14 October 2016

Scottish schools

The standard of schools in Scotland, as measured by recent pupil tests and exam results, seems to be slightly in decline.

16 September 2016

Finland, Canada and South Korea rank highly for education

We've checked claims from this week's BBC Question Time on education systems across the world.

Fact checks

Campaigns

Policy

Full Fact AI

About

International education performance

ITV Sunak V Starmer Debate: fact checked

Telegraph columnist wrongly claims literacy at the lowest level in UK history

Scotland’s maths and science scores are falling in international tests but rising in national tests

Does the UK have the best education system in the world?

Government school spending figures: correct but misleading

Nearly 2 million more children are in good or outstanding schools since 2010

Is educational attainment in Scotland at record levels?

The UK's international education ranking

Scottish schools

Finland, Canada and South Korea rank highly for education

Full Fact fights bad information