England: England and PISA—The Long View

Abstract

This chapter does not drill down in the minutiae of the PISA results for England. For that, readers can go to the NFER’s excellent report (Sizmur in Achievement of 15-year-olds in England: PISA 2018 Results DFE-RR961 2019) which comprises the UK Government’s commentary on the PISA outcomes. Rather, it tries to do something unique—it places the PISA results in the context of policy changes which may be associated with PISA outcomes, and seeks to explain the factors which determine the trends present in the PISA data. It looks briefly at the other administrations of the UK (Scotland and Wales in particular), but highlights the vital differences between those administrations. I maintain that ‘The UK’ cannot be treated as a unitary system.

Has Peak PISA passed? An investigation of interest in International Large-Scale Assessments across countries and over time

“…Together, they provide a rich set of data that facilitates comparisons of educational achievement across countries and over time. Their high profile has translated into significant political and policy impact in several countries, including motivating or justifying major curriculum/assessment reforms in Wales (Oates, 2021), Ireland (Kirwan, 2017), Hungary (Neumann et al, 2012), Mexico and Australia (Froese-Germain, 2010), amongst others. There can thus be little doubt that, over the last quarter century, ILSAs have had a substantial impact on education debates (Breakspear, 2012).…”