TIMSS 2023: Singapore Students Demonstrate Strong Foundations & Consistent Good Performance in Mathematics & Science

Singapore's Primary 4 and Secondary 2 students continue to demonstrate strong Mathematics and Science competencies in foundational numeracy and scientific literacy, as well as problem-solving and scientific-inquiry skills, according to findings from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2023, a study by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).

Key Findings

Singapore students across diverse academic abilities continue to demonstrate strong Mathematical and Scientific literacies by international standards

2. The latest results reaffirm our students' continued excellence in Mathematics and Science, where they have done better than their peers in all participating education systems. Compared to TIMSS 2019, our Secondary 2 students have maintained their strong performance in both subjects, and our Primary 4 students have improved in Science. (Please refer to Table A1 and A2 of Annex A for the mean scores of all participating education systems in TIMSS 2023.) While our Primary 4 students' performance in Mathematics saw a slight dip compared to TIMSS 2019, they still performed substantially better than the international average. Our academically weaker students at both grades performed better than the international average in both subjects (see Figure A1). MOE will continue to work closely with schools to help students across all academic abilities to learn deeply and build strong foundational skills for Mathematics and Science.

Singapore students are adept at applying and reasoning with Mathematics and Science concepts, and have strong environmental knowledge and high digital self-efficacy

3. In TIMSS 2023, our Primary 4 and Secondary 2 students did particularly well in "Applying" and "Reasoning"¹ in both Mathematics and Science (see Figure A2), which demonstrates their ability to utilise mathematical and scientific concepts to navigate non-routine situations and solve complex problems.

4. Our students also demonstrated very strong environmental knowledge² in key issues such as climate change, biodiversity, and conservation. In addition, our students' reported levels of digital self-efficacy are among the highest among same-grade peers internationally, reflecting their high confidence in using digital devices for various tasks (e.g., finding information and creating school presentations).

5. Higher order thinking, environmental and digital literacy are important for our students' ability to learn for life, innovate and take on future jobs. These results assure the Ministry of Education (MOE) that students are benefiting from our holistic STEM curriculum that emphasises hands-on and applied interdisciplinary learning. It also shows that our dedicated teachers have adopted effective teaching approaches to support our diverse student population in the learning of Mathematics and Science. MOE will continue to work with schools and key industry partners to innovate and strengthen STEM education for our students.

Singapore students expressed more confidence in learning both subjects, but more could be done to promote interest in learning and the valuing of Mathematics

6. Like in previous years, our Primary 4 and Secondary 2 students continued to report positive attitudes towards learning Mathematics and Science, with higher levels of confidence for both subjects in TIMSS 2023 compared to TIMSS 2019. For example, the proportion of Secondary 2 students who agree a lot that they usually do well in Mathematics and Science increased from 25% in TIMSS 2019 to about 30% in TIMSS 2023.

7. While confidence levels have improved, our students' interest in learning Mathematics decreased, a trend observed across many participating education systems. For example, the proportion of Primary 4 students who reported enjoying learning Mathematics a lot decreased from 48% in 2019 to 42% in 2023; the corresponding proportion for Secondary 2 students was 37% in 2019 and 35% in 2023 respectively. Having interest in a subject helps to motivate our students to learn. Our teachers will continue to nurture a joy in learning in our students.

8. Additionally, our Secondary 2 students also reported valuing Mathematics less in 2023 as compared to 2019, with the proportion who agreed that learning Mathematics will help them in their daily lives a lot decreasing from 38% in 2019 to 32% in 2023. MOE will continue to work with schools, parents and other stakeholders to engage and interest our students in learning Mathematics.

9. Reflecting on the TIMSS 2023 findings, Director-General of Education, Ms Liew Wei Li said: "Mathematics and Science are not merely academic disciplines; they are fundamental tools for fostering critical thinking, driving technological innovation and addressing global challenges. We are thus very encouraged to see our students consistently demonstrating strong critical problem-solving and analytical reasoning skills in both subjects by international standards, which reflects a solid foundation in mathematical and scientific concepts. MOE will continue to address areas for improvement and work closely with schools, parents, and community partners to help our students from all backgrounds — not just develop useful and useable skills, but also stay curious, enjoy learning and nurture their range of passions."

Background of TIMSS 2023

10. TIMSS is an international study conducted once every four years by IEA that measures what students at Grade 4 and Grade 8 (equivalent to Primary 4 and Secondary 2 respectively in Singapore) can do—understand, apply, and reason—in Mathematics and Science. Singapore has participated in every cycle of TIMSS since its inception in 1995. A representative sample of 6,530 randomly selected Primary 4 students and 4,772 Secondary 2 students across all 181 primary schools and 145 secondary schools in Singapore participated in TIMSS 2023. A total of 64 education systems participated in the study.

Footnotes

1. TIMSS reports students' performance in three cognitive domains: (i) "Knowing" (items that test students' knowledge); (ii) "Applying" (items that test if students can apply Mathematics/Science concepts); and (iii) "Reasoning" (items that requires students to reason with Mathematics/Science concepts), with "Applying" and "Reasoning" being considered higher-order thinking skills compared to "Knowing".

2. Newly measured in TIMSS 2023.