In the top 20 global education league table compiled by education and publishing firm Pearson, the UK has ranked sixth globally and second among European countries, behind Finland.
The latest international comparison saw the rise of success in Asian education with South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong in China dominating the top of the list.
Finland, which ranked first place the year before, was down to fifth and it was observed that there was a wider downward trend for a number of Scandinavian countries.
Poland, on the other hand, rose and sits in the top 10. The country has been hailed for reforming its post-Communist education system.
The rankings are based on international tests and education data including OECD's Pisa tests, and two major US-based studies, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Timss) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls).
Sir Michael Barber, a former Downing Street adviser, who is now Pearson's education advisor, says the rankings and report provide "an ever-deeper knowledge base about precisely how education systems improve themselves".
"The rise of Pacific Asian countries, which combine effective education systems with a culture that prizes effort above inherited "smartness", is a phenomenon that other countries can no longer ignore."
The world's top 20 nations for education
1.South Korea
2.Japan
3.Singapore
4.Hong Kong
5.Finland
6.United Kingdom
7.Canada
8.Netherlands
9.Ireland
10.Poland
11.Denmark
12.Germany
13.Russia
14.United States
15.Australia
16.New Zealand
17.Israel
18.Belgium
19.Czech Republic
20.Switzerland