For schools

About PIRLS

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), is an international comparative study that assesses and compares the reading performance of pupils at about age 10 (P5 in Scotland), every five years across about 60 countries. This is the first time Scotland have taken part in PIRLS since 2006.

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, headteachers, and parents/carers, which provide a valuable perspective on teaching reading, and the school and home environment.

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What are the benefits of your school taking part?

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 Scotland in an important global study.
Providing your pupils with the opportunity to practise their reading skills through an interesting and innovative online assessment.

Next steps for School Coordinators

Why is PIRLS important?

PIRLS enables countries around the world to apply evidence-based decisions to improve their education systems. PIRLS provides an opportunity to compare achievement internationally, to learn from the policies and practices of other countries and monitor trends over time according to independent measures. The study also collects valuable information about pupil attitudes and motivations, to help understand how these contribute to pupil performance.

Find out more on the IEA's PIRLS website

What does it mean for Scotland?

PIRLS assesses pupils at a specific time, in the critical period when they transitition from 'Learning to Read' to 'Reading to Learn'. It is useful to access data that is reported and analysed at a national level and PIRLS allows us to assess how Scottish 10-year-olds perform in the test as well as helping us to better understand any contextual factors that seem to contribute to, or inhibit achievement.

Watch the video to find out more about PIRLS findings

How does the data collection work for PIRLS?

All participating countries will receive high-quality, internationally comparative data. The PIRLS 2026 International Database will document the full set of PIRLS 2026 data, providing numerous opportunities for research into teaching and learning.

Data highlights for each country include:

Average reading achievement and scale score distributions
Percentages of students reaching the PIRLS International Benchmarks with descriptions of students’ reading skills at each level
Reading achievement results for subgroups of students (e.g. by gender)
Trends in reading achievement compared to previous PIRLS assessments
A rich array of home, school, classroom, and attitudinal contexts for learning to read in relation to reading achievement.