British teens worse than those in Estonia at maths, science and reading

Britain's teenagers are still lagging behind other countries in maths, reading and science, an international report has found.

Students from Singapore, Japan and European countries such as Estonia, Finland and Norway fare better at those subjects, the study for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found.

The study, which assesses how students use their knowledge and skills in real life rather than just learning facts and figures by rote, revealed the UK was above the OECD average in science and reading, but not so good in maths.

The two-hour tests of more than 500,000 15-year-olds from around the globe included multiple-choice answers.

The UK came 15th for science (up from 21st last time), 22nd in reading (up from 23rd) and 27th at maths (down from 26th).

Critics say the tests are not infallible, arguing that only the brightest 5% are tested.

The UK is a high spender when it comes to education.

It spends more than the OECD average per student, around £90,284 per student from the age of six to 15 - compared with an average across OECD countries of £70,954 and well above the £59,167 across all 72 countries.

Schools standards minister Nick Gibb said in a statement: "We are determined to give all young people the world-class education they need to fulfil their potential.

"It is encouraging to see so many young people setting their ambitions high, as we know science is valued by employers and is linked to higher earnings."

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said: "After six years of turmoil in our schools, we have not made the progress we were promised by the Tories.

"We were told that the constant chopping and changing would all be worth it to see our international standing in education shoot up the tables.

"But what the Tories have delivered instead is a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention, chaos in the exam system, class sizes rising and schools facing the biggest budget cuts in decades."