Ireland's 15-year-olds have ranked mid-table amongst OECD countries on problem-solving.
Young people in 28 countries participated in a computer-based 'PISA' assessment, and Ireland finished in 17th place, similar to countries including the UN, Norway and Denmark.
However the UK, Canada and Australia all performed significantly better.
Asian countries made up the top six performers.
Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn said there was considerable room for improvement, and that such reports informed the changes being made to the system through schemes such as Project Maths and the reformed Junior Cert.