Latest PISA findings reveal how math anxiety is reshaping Australian classrooms

When the OECD released the most recent cycle of the Programme for International Student Assessment in late 2023, the headlines focused on falling scores across many developed nations. For Australian parents and teachers, however, the deeper story sat beneath the rankings. The accompanying student questionnaire exposed a rising tide of unease around mathematics, with a sizeable share of fifteen-year-olds reporting that they feel helpless, nervous or lost when faced with an unfamiliar problem. That emotional backdrop now matters as much as the raw numeracy results, because anxious students tend to disengage, guess or avoid the subject long before they sit a senior exam.

In a country where senior secondary pathways still pivot on the ATAR, and where NAPLAN continues to colour how schools and families judge progress, those feelings can shape a teenager's entire relationship with learning. From state schools in western Sydney to selective campuses in Melbourne's inner suburbs and large regional high schools around Townsville or Bunbury, teachers say they are seeing more students freeze in front of a worksheet than they did a decade ago. Understanding what the PISA data reveals about this anxiety is the first step towards tackling it.

Reading the numbers behind the headlines

Australia slipped in the PISA 2022 mathematics rankings, dropping several points below its 2018 standing and finishing below the OECD average. The headline figure, however, hides a more uncomfortable truth. Students who reported high levels of mathematics anxiety scored markedly lower than their peers with similar backgrounds and prior achievement. The OECD estimated that the gap between anxious and confident students in Australia was equivalent to roughly half a year of schooling, a margin large enough to alter cohort rankings.

Equally important is the way anxiety interacts with confidence. Australian students who said they believed mathematics was a talent you are either born with or without performed worse than those who saw it as a skill that grows with practice. That fixed-mindset pattern appeared more strongly among lower-performing students, suggesting that anxiety and belief combine to drag results down rather than acting in isolation.

How math anxiety shows up in Australian classrooms

Teachers across the country describe the same behaviours. A student who once enjoyed word problems stops raising a hand. Another refuses to write anything down during a test, leaving the page blank even when prompted. Parents hear phrases like "I'm just not a maths person" from kids still in year 8. None of these are abstract trends; they are the everyday texture of lessons in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

Recognising the signs early can change the trajectory. Common indicators that educators and parents are noticing include:

• Avoidance of maths homework, even when other subjects are completed on time
• Physical symptoms before tests, such as stomach aches, headaches or sleep disruption
• Negative self-talk, including statements like "I always get this wrong" before attempting a question
• Reluctance to enrol in intermediate or senior mathematics subjects, even when capable
• A drop in class participation shortly after a poor mark or a difficult unit

This pattern mirrors what Australian mental-health organisations such as Headspace and Beyond Blue hear from adolescents more broadly. Anxiety rarely stays confined to a single subject, and a struggling maths student often carries that tension into other parts of school life.

The gender and geographic dimensions

The PISA questionnaire also highlighted persistent gender differences. Australian girls reported higher levels of mathematics anxiety than boys, even when their actual performance was comparable. The gap was widest among high-achieving girls, who sometimes matched boys in raw score yet underestimated their ability. This echoes findings from the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, which has long warned that self-perception, not just achievement, shapes who goes on to study STEM at university. For families weighing whether a direct university path is essential, a clear community college vs university cost and outcome comparison can open up vocational and applied pathways where numeracy is taught in context.

Geography adds another layer. Students in metropolitan areas generally performed above the national mean, while those in regional and remote schools, particularly in parts of the Northern Territory and western Queensland, reported both lower confidence and higher anxiety. The combination of fewer specialist maths teachers, limited access to extension programs and the social pressure of small school communities can amplify feelings of being judged, which feeds back into performance.

Curriculum pressure, NAPLAN and the ATAR lens

Australia's assessment culture does not happen in a vacuum. NAPLAN testing in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 introduces formal measurement from primary school, and the ATAR system compresses a student's perceived worth into a single number released on December mornings each year. For teenagers already prone to worrying about maths, this layering of high-stakes moments can feel relentless.

The Australian Curriculum, managed by ACARA, has tried to respond by emphasising reasoning, problem-solving and mathematical modelling over rote procedure. That philosophical shift is sound, but it lands unevenly in classrooms that are still preparing students for the next round of NAPLAN or for scaling in subjects like mathematical methods or specialist mathematics. Until the everyday experience of maths class matches the spirit of the curriculum, anxiety will keep finding cracks to grow in.

What schools, families and students can do

The encouraging news from the PISA data is that anxiety responds to environment. Schools that explicitly teach growth-mindset language, use low-stakes formative assessment and let students revise rather than retake high-pressure tasks tend to see confidence lift alongside scores. Several state education departments, including those in Victoria and New South Wales, now fund numeracy coaches whose job is to work alongside classroom teachers rather than pull students out.

Families also have a role. Replacing "I was never any good at maths either" with "let's work out where this went sideways" can interrupt the intergenerational transmission of anxiety. Free resources such as the AMSI Maths Games, Khan Academy and university-run outreach programs offer daily practice without the emotional weight of a graded test, and many are accessible through a modest budget smartphone guide that families can keep at the kitchen table.

Practical habits that students can build include:

• Studying maths in short, regular sessions rather than long cramming blocks
• Writing down one thing understood after each lesson, even if small
• Talking through problems aloud with a peer or family member
• Sleeping properly the night before a test rather than revising until midnight
• Seeking support early through a school counsellor or a service such as Headspace when anxiety begins to spread beyond the classroom

The numbers from the latest PISA cycle do not doom a generation to numerical avoidance. They do, however, ask Australian educators, policymakers and parents to treat mathematical wellbeing as seriously as mathematical content. To keep following how these findings are being translated into classroom practice and policy, explore the latest reporting in the education section of Ub24News.