Singapore students top global rankings in maths and science

2023 edition of Timss is 4th time students here have come in first across all categories

- Gabrielle Chan

Students in Singapore have taken the top spots in mathematics and science for the third consecutive edition of a global benchmarking study.

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Timss), conducted every four years, evaluates grade four and grade eight students - equivalent to Singapore's Primary 4 and Secondary 2 levels - in their understanding, application and reasoning in maths and science.

Results for the 2023 edition of the study were released on Dec 4, and out of 64 education systems that took part, Singapore emerged first in both subjects at both levels.

Administered by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, a non-profit research organisation based in Amsterdam, the test assesses competencies in foundational numeracy, scientific literacy, problem-solving and scientific inquiry.

In a statement, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said that students here demonstrated strong foundations and good performance in maths and science.

Some 6,530 Primary 4 pupils from 181 primary schools and 4,772 Sec 2 students from 145 secondary schools joined the 2023 study.

Across both levels and for both subjects, Singapore students beat their East Asian counterparts in Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan.

This is the fourth time students here have topped the charts across all categories in the study since its inception in 1995, with the other three sweeps coming in 2003, 2015 and 2019.

More than 650,000 students in 70 education systems around the world took part in Timss 2023.

Primary 4 pupils here had an average score of 615 for maths, outperforming Taiwan's 607 and South Korea's 594.

Sec 2 students scored an average of 605, ahead of Taiwan's 602 and South Korea's 596.