Portugal’s science average sits close to the OECD mean. Inside the country, the distance between groups is much wider: students in the top quarter of socio-economic status scored 92 points above students in the bottom quarter.
That gap is close to the OECD average of 85 points. Socio-economic status here combines measures such as parental education, occupation and household resources. It is broader than family income alone.
Portugal’s gap is large, and close to the OECD norm
Comparing each country’s advantaged and disadvantaged quarters shows the performance difference associated with socio-economic background. Portugal’s 92-point gap is seven points wider than the 85-point OECD average, a similar scale of disparity.
Portugal’s science gap is seven points wider than the OECD average
Difference between the top and bottom national socio-economic quarters · science score points · 2025
Each country defines its own top and bottom quarter by socio-economic status. This compares within-country gaps, not students at the same income level across countries.
Some disadvantaged students reach the top of the national distribution
Eleven percent of socio-economically disadvantaged students in Portugal scored in the top quarter of science performance among students in Portugal. The OECD average is 12%. OECD calls this academic resilience.
About one in nine disadvantaged students scored in Portugal’s top quarter
Academic resilience · disadvantaged students scoring in the top national quarter for science · 2025
This is a cross-sectional comparison of different students. It does not track individual students moving between performance groups.
A narrowing gap can hide falling scores
Portugal’s science gap between the top and bottom socio-economic quarters stayed stable from 2015 to 2025. Across OECD countries, the average gap narrowed. The OECD attributes that average narrowing to falling scores among advantaged students, rather than rising scores among disadvantaged students. A smaller gap alone does not guarantee that learning improved.
That distinction changes how progress should be judged. Track the gap and the scores of each group together. For Portugal, the current data show both a persistent divide and a minority of disadvantaged students achieving in the top national quarter.