Little research has been done into how the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) affect national educational reform and policy-making. This paper examines the normative impact of PISA by investigating how, and the extent to which , national policy actors use PISA in policies and practices, to evaluate and improve school-system performance. Drawing on the results of a survey of country practices, the study shows that PISA has become accepted as a reliable instrument for benchmarking student performance worldwide, and that PISA results have had an influence on policy reform in the majority of participating countries/economies.