Data protection
What information will be collected and why?
Pearson UK and their partners at OUCEA have been commissioned to carry out the PIRLS 2026 study in Wales on behalf of the Welsh Government. The privacy and data security of the young people and schools we work with is very important to us and no individual pupil, teacher, headteacher, or school will be identified or identifiable in any reporting.
We will collect information on what pupils have learnt about reading literacy from their answers to the PIRLS assessment questions. We will also ask them contextual information, such as questions about their home life and interest in reading. If there are any questions pupils do not wish to answer, they may leave them blank.
We will use school, headteacher and teacher details to personalise the school study materials and correspond with schools throughout the project. We will also ask teachers and headteachers in participating schools questions about their school, teaching strategies, and the school’s learning environment.
We do not publish the answers to any question, and no pupil, school, teacher or headteacher can be identified from any report or publication.
Here are examples of the type of questions which are included in the PIRLS study and the context questionnaires for pupils, teachers and schools.
View examples of questions and context questionnaires used in the PIRLS study
How we use personal data
For the purposes of this research, the Welsh Government and its approved contractors will link the information to other information the government already holds (such as on the National Pupil Database) or that it is lawfully permitted to access from other sources. This is to avoid repeatedly asking participants to give us information that we already hold and to enable analysis of the longer-term benefits of early learning. Full privacy notices are available using the links below.
Full privacy notices
Read the Welsh Government’s Privacy Notice for PIRLS 2026: