Chamber and committees

We are committed to ensuring that the burden placed on schools by central government is appropriate and proportionate. One way of achieving this is by rationalising Scotland's engagement with international surveys like PISA, PIRLS and TIMSS. Whilst PIRLS is a well-regarded international assessment programme, it is the view of the Scottish Government that PISA provides a more useful international measure to sit alongside our other evidence about the Scottish education system. PISA is the only international survey that includes a consistent set of comparator nations, with all OECD countries involved, as well as a substantial number of other countries. It also goes beyond assessing how well pupils have mastered a curriculum to assessing pupils' knowledge and skills required for participation in society and everyday life.