Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 20 December (HL4031), and following the Programme for International Student Assessment survey, whether they have made an assessment of the level of progress made by English schools since 2010 in closing the achievement gap with the world’s best performing countries.

In 2015, fewer countries performed significantly ahead of England than in 2012. In 2012, out of 65 participating countries, 10 performed significantly ahead of England in science, 19 in mathematics and 17 reading. In 2015, out of 70 countries, nine performed significantly ahead of England in science, 19 in mathematics and 14 in reading.

The average performance of 15-year-olds in England, and the UK, has remained stable in each three-year cycle since 2006. As participating countries improve or decline, the performance of the UK relative to other countries has improved in science, moving from 21^st to 15^st position and has remained virtually unchanged in reading and mathematics.