At both 10 and 14 years old, the third Trends in International Maths and Science Study (Timms) found Singaporean children performing much better in curriculum-based maths tests than those in any other participating country.

At the younger level, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan also did well, with Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan excelling in the older age group. But Singaporean 10-year-olds beat all other competitors, with Taiwan,Japan, Hong Kong and England as runners-up.

Since the study began in 1995, some countries have significantly improved their performance in maths - the US and Lithuania at age 14,and Latvia, England, Cyprus, New Zealand and Slovenia at age 10.

But the performance of older children in Japan, Belgium, the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic, Sweden, Bulgaria, Norway and Cyprus slipped. Only the Netherlands and Norway significantly decreased in achievement at 10.

The study also examined gender differences. It found that, except for science among 14-year-olds, where boys did better in most countries, there was now little to choose between the sexes. There were signs, the authors said, that teenage girls had improved their performance in both subjects more than boys.

The children of educated parents, those with books in the home, and those who used computers were all more likely to do well in the study, as were those with expectations of going to university. Achievement was highest at both age groups for students in schools with the lowest proportion of children from poor homes.

More than 360,000 students in 49 countries participated in the latest Timms study, which has been conducted every four years by researchers at Boston College in the US.

The institute said yesterday it hoped the comparative study would spur and inform reform of education policy and teaching practice in those countries that were falling behind.

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