PISA is the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment. Every three years it tests 15-year-old students from all over the world in reading, mathematics and science. The tests are designed to gauge how well the students master key subjects in order to be prepared for real-life situations in the adult world. Why choose 15-year-olds? Because in most countries, at the age of 15, students can decide whether or not they want to continue their education. They therefore need to be equipped for adult life. PISA publishes the results of the test a year after the students are tested to help governments shape their education policy. PISA cycles are referred to by the year in which the students were tested. Therefore PISA 2000 means the students were tested in the year 2000, PISA 2003, in the year 2003 and so forth. More information.

Do parents of 15-year-olds know many of their child’s school friends and their parents?

PISA asked parents from the 18 countries and economies that chose to distribute the parent questionnaire how many of their child’s school friends they know by name and how many of their parents they know. On average across the OECD education systems that distributed the parent questionnaire, parents reported that they know about five of their child’s school friends and four of the parents of their child’s friends.

Balancing School Choice and Equity: An International Perspective Based on PISA

This report provides an international perspective on issues related to school choice, especially how certain aspects of school-choice policies may be associated with sorting students into different schools. 

Please also see the related PISA in Focus N°96

Over half a million 15-year-olds from 80 countries and economies took the PISA test in 2018. They were tested in reading, mathematics and science with a focus on reading. In addition, students in some countries took tests on financial literacy and on global competence. Results of this PISA round (PISA 2018) will be released on 3 December 2019.

In the meantime you can consult information on the theory underpinning the main assessment & the assessment of global competence (the innovative domain).

You can also discover some questions that students took for the Field Trial. 

PISA 2021 

Preparations for the assessment of 15-year-old students in 2021 are well underway.  The 36 OECD members are participating and it is expected that over 50 non-members will implement the assessment too. As in previous cycles, students will be tested in reading, mathematics and science. This time the focus will be on mathematics.  In addition, students will be tested in an innovative subject - creative thinking. 

PISA 2024

Planning for the PISA 2024 assessment has begun. A call for tenders for the contractors responsible for implementing the survey will be launched in June 2019.

For the assessment, of the three core subjects: reading, mathematics and science, the focus will be on science. The ability of students to learn in a digital world will also be tested. In addition an optional assessment of competencies in foreign languages will be carried out.