International large-scale assessments (ILSAs) of educational attainment are now a common feature for around 70 per cent of countries worldwide. All such studies have similar objectives including comparing the performance of a country’s education system with others across the world and to enable educational policy to develop on the basis of a robust evidence base.
Northern Ireland’s participation in ILSAs is relatively recent, having first participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2003 and subsequently in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2011 and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) also in 2011.