--- title: Asia Schools Rank Tops in The World, U.S. Is 28th description: Asian countries claimed the top five spots in a global math-and-science-education ranking administered by the OECD — the U.S. placed 28th canonical: https://time.com/3856834/worlds-best-top-schools-survey-asia/ author: Kevin McSpadden article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-13T05:52:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:17.590Z og:title: Asian Schools Rank Top in World Education Survey og:description: Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea fill the first three slots. og:url: https://time.com/3856834/worlds-best-top-schools-survey-asia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Asian Schools Rank Top in World Education Survey twitter:description: Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea fill the first three slots. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Here's Where You're Going to Find the Best Schools in the World ## Video: The American Teenager in 2015 [Watch (HLS stream): The American Teenager in 2015](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yvcajvQf.m3u8) (3:31)  _Published 2015-01-29. Then and now, it's not easy being teens. Watch what the teenagers of 2015 have to say about their generation, and the ones before._ by [Kevin McSpadden](https://time.com/author/kevin-mcspadden/) ## Kevin McSpadden May 13, 2015 5:52 AM UTC by [Kevin McSpadden](https://time.com/author/kevin-mcspadden/) ## Kevin McSpadden May 13, 2015 5:52 AM UTC Asian countries [claimed](http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32608772) the top five spots in a global math-and-science-education ranking administered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) while the U.S. placed 28th, below much poorer countries such as the Czech Republic and Vietnam. Singapore ranked best in the world, with Hong Kong placing second and South Korea, Japan and Taiwan rounding out top five, reports the BBC. At sixth, Finland is the first non-Asian country to appear in the rankings; Ghana came in last place. “The idea is to give more countries, rich and poor, access to comparing themselves against the world’s education leaders, to discover their relative strengths and weaknesses, and to see what the long-term economic gains from improved quality in schooling could be for them,” said OECD education director Andreas Schleicher. The new rankings are different the more well-known PISA scores, which traditionally focuses on affluent nations. The latest version, based on tests taken in different regions worldwide, includes 76 countries of varying economic status. “This is the first time we have a truly global scale of the quality of education,” said Schleicher. Below is the top 10 as reported by the BBC. 1\. Singapore 2\. Hong Kong 3\. South Korea 4\. Japan 4\. Taiwan 6\. Finland 7\. Estonia 8\. Switzerland 9\. Netherlands 10\. 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