FAQs

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, known as “PIRLS”, is an international comparative study that assesses and compares the reading performance of pupils at about age 10, or year five in England, every five years across about 60 countries. England has taken part in every cycle of the study since 2001. It provides internationally comparative data on pupils’ achievement in reading, and how their performance is related to their attitudes, gender and background. In addition, PIRLS includes questionnaires for teachers and headteachers, which provide a valuable perspective on teaching reading and the school environment.

The study assessment day will take place in May-July 2026, with year five pupils. In the welcome letter, addressed to your headteacher, a date is given for the study to be conducted at your school. We hope that this date is convenient for your staff and pupils, and that suitable room(s) can be made available. If for any reason this date is not suitable, please let us know.

Following a rigorous sampling process, your school has been randomly selected to participate in PIRLS by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). One of the requirements of the study is to ensure that the sample of participating schools is representative of schools in England. We are only able to approach schools that are selected through the random sampling approach, to ensure the results show a true representation of the full range of schools in England in respect of size, location and school type. Please see PIRLS | IEA.nl for detailed information on the study methodology.

Participation in the study is not compulsory but the Department is making it clear that its strong expectation is that all schools do participate. The Education Act 1996 enables the Secretary of State for the Department for Education to issue a direction that would require schools to take part in international studies should she feel it expedient to do so. The Department for Education will review school participation on a school-by-school basis and will exempt participation only in exceptional circumstances, for schools faced with extreme extenuating circumstances. The Department does not expect that many schools will fall in that category.

PIRLS is a major international study monitoring reading achievement. It is a vital part of the international evidence base, allowing the Department for Education to benchmark England’s performance against other countries, to measure trends over time, to identify and analyse factors that impact pupil achievement, and to learn from policies and practices in other countries.

The schools and pupils that participate in PIRLS are making a valuable contribution to the understanding of our education system and it is only with this participation that we can realise the opportunities that PIRLS brings to improve our educational policies and practices. By participating in PIRLS, you will be:

• Supporting a study that helps us better understand our education system, directly influencing national policy and developments.
• Contributing to an international evidence base that informs policies and strategies to help address the challenges associated with raising standards and reducing achievement gaps.
• Giving your pupils the experience of representing England in an important global study.
• Providing your pupils with the opportunity to practise their reading skills through an interesting and innovative online assessment.

As a thank you for your support, schools and pupils will be awarded a certificate of participation.

In recognition of your valued contribution, your school will also receive an administration payment. You will be sent a payment form from the PIRLS support team.

No, the National Study Centre (Pearson) will provide a Test Administrator who will visit the school on the assessment day and have responsibility for running the study. Test Administrators are experienced education professionals, often ex-teachers who all have DBS clearance, ensuring our staff adhere to the most up-to-date guidelines. However, we do ask that a member of the school staff stays in the room during the assessment.

If you have any concerns about Test Administrators visiting your school, please contact the PIRLS Support Team to discuss.

You will be informed of the year five class/classes chosen by the PIRLS Support Team. The majority of schools will have one class selected, but some larger schools will have two classes selected to participate. Please note that it may not be all pupils in the year group selected to participate in the assessments. It is important that all the sampled pupils carry out the assessment, however for pupils that may find it difficult to engage with the assessments, exemption criteria can be applied. You will be sent more detail on exemptions to help inform these decisions.

Pupils will complete an interactive computer-based reading assessment covering a wide range of age relevant content and topic areas, followed by a short survey. The assessment is designed to test pupils’ knowledge of reading. It will include a mix of open and closed response questions. Pupils and staff will also be asked to complete an online questionnaire to provide important contextual information to supplement the assessment data:

• The pupil questionnaire asks participating pupils about aspects of their home and school lives, including demographic information, their home environment, school climate for learning, and their attitudes towards learning. 
• The school questionnaire asks a range of contextual questions about the participating schools, including demographic characteristics of the school’s pupils, the availability of resources for teaching, and the school’s learning environment. 
• The teacher questionnaire asks participating teachers about their education, professional development, and experience in teaching, as well as their teaching of reading, including classroom activities and strategies.

Examples of the assessments and questionnaires can be viewed at Context Questionnaires - PIRLS 2021

The whole process will take approximately 2.5 hours, including the assessment itself, survey, questionnaire and breaks. No prior preparation or revision is required from pupils. Most schools aim to complete the study in the morning , though we can make arrangements to start later in the school day to work around the school schedules.

The assessment is split into two sessions and will take around 1.5 hours in total. After a five to ten minute break, pupils will be asked to complete the online questionnaire, which will take around 30 minutes.

Our Test Administrator will arrive at least an hour before your chosen start time to prepare the room. The School Coordinator (a representative teacher in the school to support with the delivery) should aim to arrive at the same time. Parking on the school premises is welcomed if available. The school and teacher questionnaires can be completed in advance online. Instructions on how to access the questionnaire will be sent to the School Coordinator to distribute. These questionnaires should take about half an hour each to complete.

If two classes are chosen in the school, we are able to assess both at the same time, or one class in the morning and one after lunch, to make best use of IT facilities. Guidance will be provided by the PIRLS Support Team for schools with two classes.

No prior preparation or revision work is required for pupils to be able to complete the assessment and minimal administration is required from school staff.

Pupils should bring a book to read quietly in case they finish the assessment early.

Pupils will need access to an internet-enabled computer with keyboard and mouse to complete the study. An IT room, or two, depending on the number of pupils, is ideal, or alternatively a classroom can be used with laptops. The IT room or classroom used should be quiet and free from distraction.

If your school doesn’t have enough computers in IT rooms or laptops for use in a classroom, additional laptops can be provided. If you require more laptops for the assessments to take place, please get in touch with the PIRLS Support Team.

Yes, although set-up is minimal and Pearson will provide support to all schools throughout the process.

The assessments will be accessed over the internet using a secure log in and so wifi/an internet connection will be required for pupils to access both the assessment and the questionnaire. Each pupil will need a laptop or PC for a maximum duration of 2.5 hours (including breaks). If laptops are used, they should be fully charged before the day of the study. We will liaise closely with your nominated School Coordinator and IT Coordinator ahead of the assessment day to ensure that the IT facilities in your school are set up correctly. A five minute automated test of a computer on the school system will need to take place ahead of the assessment day, and a link will be provided for this. We also ask if possible that your IT Coordinator is available on the assessment day to assist with any issues that may arise.

The PIRLS support team will support your PIRLS School Coordinator throughout the process and aim to keep administration to a minimum. The Year five class teacher or teaching assistant is often selected for the role. The main duties include:

• Acting as the main point of contact for Pearson and the PIRLS Test Administrator.
• Agreeing the date and making the arrangements for pupils to complete the activities in the school.
• Working with Pearson to confirm details of all eligible pupils and then those sampled to participate.
• Informing parents and guardians of the study using the letter template provided by Pearson.
• Informing the board of governors about the school’s participation in the PIRLS study (your headteacher may wish to do this).
• Ensuring IT facilities are set up ready for online assessments.
• Ensuring secure storage of any materials sent prior to the study.
• Overseeing the completion of school and teacher questionnaires prior to the test date.
• Before the assessment day, confirming the date and time with the Test Administrator.
• On the assessment day, supporting the PIRLS Test Administrator as needed.
• It may be helpful to have IT support available on the day of testing (optional), however immediate help with IT troubleshooting will be available from the PIRLS Support Team.

To check that we are delivering the study in a similar way in all schools, a quality monitor may attend your test session. If this happens, the School Coordinator will be asked some questions about the arrangements you were required to make and your views of the way in which the study was organised.

We ask that each school provides a deputy School Coordinator in case of absence to the main School Coordinator. They will not have to carry out any duties unless the main School Coordinator is absent for a long duration.

Pupils can be verbally informed about the study in the days prior to the assessment. We will provide a template letter for you to send to their parents and guardians. These templates will be emailed to you so you can edit them as necessary and print or distribute electronically. We will also provide you with a letter on data privacy which must be included with your letter to parents and should not be altered. Letters should be sent once we have confirmed the pupils taking part in the study (not before). 

To find out more, parents and guardians can be directed here

Yes, pupil and school identities will remain confidential and the results of individual schools or pupils will not be published. The data shared with the international study organiser will be pseudonymised: pupil and school details will be removed and replaced with a code so that no individual school or pupil can be identified. The government and any organisation granted access to the data for the purposes of international comparison or research will not publish information which identifies or makes it possible to identify any individual or school participating in the study.

We take data protection very seriously and follow the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Any personal information we collect will be held securely and no individual pupil or school will be identified or identifiable in any report or publication.

Results from the previous cycle of PIRLS, which took place in 2021, can be found here

The PIRLS Support Team can be reached Monday to Friday between 8am-4pm on 020 7010 2155, or by email on pirlsEngland@pearson.com