In December 2004, when results from PISA 2003 were presented, much focus in media was on ranking lists and overall changes since PISA 2000. In Sweden no significant changes between 2000 and 2003 occurred in none of the three test domains in PISA (reading literacy, mathematical literacy and scientific literacy). Moreover, Swedish scores were significantly above the OECD average in all three domains. In Norway results in reading and mathematics showed no significant changes but a considerable drop in science results. The Norwegian science score was also below the OECD average, whereas reading and mathematics scores were close to the international means (OECD 2001, 2004). In this article we will take a closer look at the PISA science results for the two countries in order to discuss some possible links to educational reforms that has been introduced during the last decennium. For that purpose we will also discuss some results from TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), or more precisely: results for the science grade 8 part of the study. In addition to the national PISA 2003 reports for Sweden (Skolverket 2004c) and Norway (Kjærnsli et al 2004), also the national TIMSS 2003 reports (Skolverket 2004a, Grønmo et al 2004) discuss the achievement drop in science. In addition, Kjærnsli et al (2005) has recently focused quite specifically on the general drop of competencies in the Nordic countries during the last decennium.