OECD PISA for Schools test.
Actionable insights that help schools across Australia and the globe measure their academic performance and learning environment.
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Upcoming testing window: 1 May - 9 June 2023
The goalposts for educational success are shifting
As an educator, you know it’s critical to prepare your students to enter the global economy. The benchmark is no longer improvement by national standards alone, but how education systems compare internationally.
Hear educators from around the world share their insights on how assessment data from the PISA for Schools test contributes to their school’s efforts to improve student outcomes and wellbeing.
What is the OECD PISA for Schools test?
It’s a school-level assessment that provides your school with a holistic “health check”, offering valuable insights on academic performance, learning environment and how well your students can apply their knowledge.
The test is based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s world-renowned Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). While PISA delivers national-level results, PISA for Schools delivers school-level results.
How is it different from PISA?
How can the OECD PISA for Schools test empower my school?
Equip your students with 21st century skills and build capacity for data-driven school improvement. Here is why so many schools worldwide are already taking part in PISA for Schools.
Introduce competency-based assessment
The test measures your students’ ability to retrieve and creatively apply knowledge, via scenario-based questions.
Connect with and learn from other schools
Your participation gives you global peer-learning opportunities to inform professional development and exchange of best practices among teachers and school leaders worldwide.
Benchmark your school’s performance internationally
Sophisticated data and analysis allows your school to compare itself to others in your country and around the world.
Receive a holistic “health check” of your school and learning environment
A multi-faceted, world-recognised exploration of your entire teaching system provides your staff with a leading indicator of academic outcomes.
Give your students a voice
Separately from the main test, a student questionnaire collects valuable insights about pupils’ family context, your school’s teaching environment and students’ attitudes toward learning.
Make education decisions informed by data driven insights
Test results pinpoint areas where you can make instructional practice improvements and program changes at a school level. School networks and regional authorities can also request a group report to assess the performance of a group of schools.
FREE SAMPLE REPORT
OECD PISA for Schools
Take a sneak peek at the actionable insights your school will receive in this sample copy of the 80+ page PISA for Schools report.
Fast facts
15-year-olds
Like PISA, PISA for Schools assesses high school students near the end of their compulsory education. A random sample of at least 42 students per school sit the test.
141 items, 3 subject areas
Questions measure how well your students can apply their knowledge creatively to solve problems in novel contexts within reading, mathematics and science.
2 hours
Students are given two hours to complete the main part of the assessment, followed by a break before completing the student questionnaire.
Student questionnaire
A 30-minute questionnaire uncovers test-takers’ attitudes towards learning, including instrumental motivation and self-efficacy. It also allows you to look at their social and emotional skills, and to understand the impact of COVID-19 disruptions.
Efficient, online delivery
The test runs on the award-winning Janison Insights online assessment platform, which offers you an enhanced user experience via an intuitive dashboard, easy invigilation and streamlined reporting. The test can be administered both online and offline.
Comprehensive reporting
Participating schools each receive a detailed, 80+ page report that provides actionable insights into teaching practice and the school environment, as well as, world-scale comparative data.
Hear how PISA for Schools is empowering schools and educators around the globe
While various student outcomes can be adequately measured by standardised test results and other assessments, the gold standard for accurately determining how students apply what they learn across a range of subject areas is via PISA for Schools (based on PISA). In addition, the OECD’s assessment of student satisfaction is a truly unique instrument no less useful than the exam results.
Dr. Michael K. Block, Co-founder, BASIS Charter School network, Arizona, United States
Hear why Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia, United States, has chosen to take the PISA for Schools test for seven years running and how they use the maths data to improve their teaching training activities.
Global Crises Module:Guide your school’s education decisions post COVID-19
The global spread of COVID-19 has led to unprecedented disruptions in schooling around the world, leaving educators with many unanswered questions. How much learning did our students miss and what is the impact? How well were they able to access education at home when school buildings were closed down? How well prepared is our school for a similar crisis in the future?
The OECD’s Global Crises Module is designed to help you answer these questions and more. It evaluates the educational impacts of COVID-19 disruption on your school and helps inform decisions on how to mitigate them.
Register your school’s interest here.
First datacollection ofits kind in theworld
11 questionsabout yourstudents
Free
It’s an add-on module when you sign up for PISA for Schools
Online
Delivered online as part of PISA for Schools
Global Crises Module:Guide your school’s education decisions post COVID-19
The global spread of COVID-19 has led to unprecedented disruptions in schooling around the world, leaving educators with many unanswered questions. How much learning did our students miss and what is the impact? How well were they able to access education at home when school buildings were closed down? How well prepared is our school for a similar crisis in the future?
The OECD’s Global Crises Module is designed to help you answer these questions and more. It evaluates the educational impacts of COVID-19 disruption on your school and helps inform decisions on how to mitigate them.
Register your school’s interest here.
First datacollection ofits kind in theworld
11 questionsabout yourstudents
Free
It’s an add-on module when you sign up for PISA for Schools
Online
Delivered online as part of PISA for Schools
Frequently asked questions
Find out more about the costs, logistics, training and support, how to sign your school up for the test and more.
Any high school can take part.
Ideally a sample of 55 students per school. The minimum number of students to complete the assessment in order to receive the school report is 42.
Students need to be between 15 years and 3 months to 16 years and 2 months in age to take part.
The cognitive test covers reading, mathematics and science. The questions measure how well students can apply their knowledge creatively to solve problems in novel contexts.
$7,000 AUD per school.
Yes, it is possible to test more students, but it is not necessary for the data and results. A pro rata price can be negotiated.
The next testing window is from 1 May – 9 June 2023.
More than 12 countries already take part, including Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, Portugal, Russia, Thailand, the UAE, the UK and the US.
We do not hold personal information in the system. All we require is a unique identification number so that the school can identify the student. No student names go into the system.
As the assessment includes many open-ended questions that need to be marked by humans, the reports are delivered approximately two months after the end of a testing window.
Janison is the OECD’s education technology partner and delivers PISA for Schools – including the student interface and digital assessment engine. Janison also scores the test within the assessment platform software and consolidates the data into reports for the schools.
Most school staff require as little as one hour’s training to deliver the test.
Yes, our team is on standby throughout your testing event. We also provide proctor training as well as a comprehensive run sheet.
Yes, there is a demonstration site available here.
Simply click “Next”, “Next”, “Yes” and “Start” on the opening screens to view the sample questions.
Sign up or register your interest here.
Are you ready to drive excellence for your students?
Take charge of your education practice with globally recognised schools insights.
Simply submit your details and one of our assessment consultants will be in touch with you shortly.