China has lost its place as the seemingly unassailable star of world education, as the latest PISA results have been released. Shanghai, as the Chinese mainland’s representative, had finished top in all three subject areas in the last two PISA studies. But in the latest 2015 study things didn't go as well. This study included Beijing, Jiangsu, and Guangdong along with Shanghai. All test scores fell. Rankings fell to 10th in science, sixth in math, and 27th in reading.

Chinese Taipei ranked 4th, Macao 6th and Hong Kong 9th. Singaporean students topped the ranking in overall performance, followed by Japan and Estonia. The Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, occurs every three years and measures academic abilities in students nearing the end of their compulsory schooling. More than half a million students from 72 countries and economies participated last year.