The UK has slipped further down world education rankings as teenagers fall behind their peers in reading, maths and science.
Countries including Poland and Norway have overtaken the UK in the last three years as education here has "stagnated".
Britain has fallen from 17th in 2006 to 25th for reading skills among 15-year-olds, according to a major study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
In maths, the UK has dropped from 24th to 28th place, it shows.
Around half a million 15-year-olds from more than 70 countries took part in the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study 2009, with the results for 65 published.
The study assessed how students could use their knowledge and skills in real life, rather than just repeating facts and figures.
The findings showed that the UK's score for reading was 494, about the same as the OECD average, 493. The top performer for reading was Shanghai-China with a score of 556.
For maths skills, the UK's score was 492, again similar to the OECD average of 496. Shanghai-China was again top-ranked with a score of 600.
In science the UK received a score of 514, placing it 16th. The OECD average was 501, and Shanghai-China was again top with 575.
The UK's results remained similar to those in the 2006 PISA study, when the UK was ranked 17th for reading skills, 24th for maths and 14th for science.
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