PIRLS 2026 Data Services

PIRLS 2026 is the sixth in a cycle of studies designed to measure trends in reading literacy achievement of Year 5 students. To keep up to date with how children read and learn information, the assessment will be administered digitally.

Description

PIRLS will continue to include a variety of stories and articles that children will read and answer questions about, administered using computers.  Building on the success of PIRLS 2021 it will include some online reading tasks that are designed to see how well students read, interpret and critique information in an online environment that looks and feels like the internet.

Underpinning this sixth cycle of PIRLS is a revised assessment framework. The first edition of the PIRLS 2026 Assessment Frameworks was released in June 2024. The framework describes the processes of reading comprehension, purposes for reading, and reading behaviours and attitudes that will be assessed by the study. The document also sets out the contextual framework for the study which has been revised to reflect the change to assessing web-based reading.

Because of the scale of the development work, Southern Hemisphere countries will now assess in the same calendar year as Northern Hemisphere countries. This means that for the first time since 2001, New Zealand will run PIRLS in the same calendar year as Northern Hemisphere countries. All countries implement PIRLS towards the end of school year.

PIRLS 2026 Key facts

Read about PIRLS 2026.

Key facts: PIRLS 2026

When:

  • March 2025: Field trial for all countries.
  • April-June 2026: Main study implementation in Northern Hemisphere countries.
  • October–December 2026: Main study implementation in Southern Hemisphere countries.
  • December 2027: International results released.

Who:
Year 5 students and their parents/caregivers, along with their (reading) teachers, and principals will take part in the study in 2026.

What:
Assessment of reading literacy, with background information also collected.

How:
Conducted under the auspices of the IEA; managed internationally by the International Study Centre at Boston College; and nationally by the Ministry of Education.

Where:
About 60 countries and benchmarking entities (regional jurisdictions of countries such as states or provinces) will participate in PIRLS 2026.