The world’s largest international assessment of student learning

What does PISA assess?

Rather than assessing students on set school curricula, PISA measures how well 15-year-olds – who in most countries are approaching the end of compulsory schooling – are able to apply their knowledge and skills in reading, mathematics, and science to everyday situations.

For example, are they able to:

• Read tables and graphs in websites?
• Perform currency conversions?
• Use basic understandings of science to make sense of articles about topics such as genetically modified foods and animal cloning?

Questions are multiple-choice or require a short written response.

Selected test questions from previous cycles of PISA are available on the OECD PISA website.

The PISA questionnaires

Students participating in PISA complete a background questionnaire that seeks information about themselves, their attitudes, dispositions and beliefs, their homes, and their school and learning experiences. Students also complete a questionnaire on their familiarity with information technology. Responses to the questionnaires help place the achievement data in context.

Teachers from participating schools complete a questionnaire about their training, professional development and teaching practices. Principals complete a questionnaire about school characteristics, the quality of the school’s teaching and educational resources, decision-making processes, instructional practices, and school and classroom climate.

Who sits the PISA assessment?

Students who are between 15 years 3 months and 16 years 2 months of age, regardless of the grade or type of institution they are enrolled in. This age group is chosen to allow for meaningful comparison across countries.

How are students selected?

PISA uses a nationally-representative sample. Schools are first randomly selected, and then students within those schools are randomly drawn to participate. This ensures the sample accurately reflects the broader student population.

Why are students selected based on age?

Using a common age group allows countries to be compared at a similar point near the end of compulsory schooling, regardless of differences in school systems or grade structures between countries.

When are students assessed?

For PISA 2025, assessment took place between March and September 2025. In Australia, students were assessed from late July to early September 2025.

Who runs PISA in Australia?

PISA in Australia is part of the National Assessment Program (NAP), funded by the Australian Government Department of Education. The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) serves as the National Project Manager, coordinating the assessment on behalf of all Australian states and territories.

For further information about the NAP sample assessments visit the NAP website.

By taking part in PISA, Australia has the chance to measure student performance on a global scale, independently of school curriculum – both in comparison to other countries, and in relation to results from previous cycles of PISA.

PISA provides important information for policy development, fostering public accountability, allowing areas of progress or decline in achievement to be identified and monitored, and addressing concerns for equity. It also serves as an instrument to monitor student performance over time. The regularity of the assessment allows comparability from one cycle to the next and the observation of the effects of policy changes on educational standards.

Education Goals for Young Australians

As part of the National Assessment Program (NAP), results from PISA allow for nationally comparable reporting of progress towards the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration.

This declaration sets out a vision for education in Australia that promotes excellence and equity to enable all Australians to become confident and creative individuals, successful learners, and active and informed community members.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations has officially recognized PISA as a global indicator for progress in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the 193 countries of the UN General Assembly. SDG 4, to be achieved by 2030, is to: ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’.

PISA data are used for monitoring progress in the proportion of children and young people who, at the end of lower secondary education, have achieved at least minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics (SDG global indicator 4.1.1c). PISA-based indicators are also used to measure how close countries are to meeting other targets, particularly those related to equity and education for sustainable development.