ICILS was initiated and is organized by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). ICILS measures competences relating to the use of a computer as a tool for work, communication, to search for and evaluate information. Since 2018, it has also assessed computational thinking skills, which involve solving problems using algorithmic thinking. The study has been conducted every five years since 2013. Poland participated in the first cycle of the study.

The study measures the competences of students in the eighth year of schooling, with the average age of participants not being less than 13.5 years. In Poland, the 2013 study was conducted among second-year lower secondary school (gimnazjum) students.

The study is conducted on a representative, random sample of students. The sampling is done in two stages – first, schools are randomly selected, then specific 8th-grade classes are randomly chosen within those schools. All students from the selected classes are invited to participate. Approximately 150 schools and 4,000–5,000 students usually participate in the study in each country. During the assessment, which takes place at school, students use a computer to complete task sets focusing on computer and information literacy, and after this, they respond to questionnaires.

The study also examines a range of contextual factors relating to the opinions and attitudes of students, their home and educational experiences, teacher experiences, teaching processes at the classroom and school level, and school resources and organization pertaining to the use of ICT. Data on these issues are collected through questionnaires completed by students, teachers of various subjects, school ICT coordinators, and the principals of the selected schools.

Teachers of eighth-grade classes also participate in ICILS. In each sampled school, teachers are randomly selected from all those teaching at this grade level, not only from those who teach the students selected for the assessment. This approach makes it possible to generalize the findings to the entire population of eighth-grade teachers in a given country. 

The ICILS study in Poland is conducted by the Educational Research Institute – National Research Institute. Poland will participate in the study again in 2028. ICILS 2028 is being conducted on behalf of the Ministry of National Education. The study is conducted as part of the project "Preparation and implementation of international educational research in the field of key competences” financed by European Funds for Social Development (FERS).

The number of countries and regions participating in ICILS has varied. In the first 2013 cycle, 22 countries and regions took part, while a decade later, 35 countries and regions participated.

For more information, please visit the IEA website.

TIMSS was initiated by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). The TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development of Boston College is responsible for conducting the study. TIMSS measures the knowledge and skills of students in mathematics and science. The study has been conducted every four years since 1995. Poland has participated in it since 2011.

The study measures the skills of students in the fourth and/or eighth year of their formal schooling, with the average age of students at the time of the assessment not being less than 9.5 and 13.5 years, respectively. Until 2023, the study in Poland was conducted exclusively with the younger group of students. In 2011, third-grade primary school students took part in the study. Since 2015, it has been conducted among fourth-grade students. For the first time, TIMSS 2027 will include both fourth-grade and eighth-grade primary school students in Poland.

The study is conducted on a representative, random sample of students. Based on the results, conclusions can be drawn about the entire population of all fourth-grade and/or eighth-grade students attending schools in a given country. The sampling is done in two stages – first, schools are randomly selected, then specific 4th and/or 8th-grade classes are randomly chosen within those schools. All students from the selected classes are invited to participate in the study. During the assessment, which takes place at school, students complete sets of mathematics and science tasks, followed by questionnaires. Approximately 150 schools and 4,000–5,000 students usually participate in the study for each age group within every country.

In addition to knowledge and skills, the study examines a range of contextual factors relating to, among others, students’ opinions and attitudes, their home environment and educational experiences, teachers’ opinions and experiences, teaching processes at the classroom and school level, and the school’s resources and organization. Data on these issues are collected through questionnaires completed by students, school principals, mathematics and science teachers from the assessed classes, and the parents of the fourth-grade students.

In Poland, the format of the TIMSS study was paper-based until 2019. 2023 was the first cycle in which students completed tasks on computers, with school principals and teachers completing their questionnaires online. The parents’ questionnaires remained paper-based. TIMSS 2027 will be the first cycle in which the computer-based version will be mandatory for the student assessment in all participating countries.

The first cycle of the study in Poland (2011) was conducted by a team from the Central Examination Board. Subsequent cycles have been the responsibility of the Educational Research Institute, implementing the study on behalf of the Ministry of National Education. The TIMSS 2027 study is being conducted as part of the project "Preparation and implementation of international educational research in the field of key competences" financed by European Funds for Social Development (FERS).

The number of countries and regions participating in successive TIMSS cycles has varied. The first 1995 cycle had 34 countries and regions participating in the fourth-grade assessment, while 53 countries and regions participated in the eighth-grade assessment. TIMSS 2023 had, respectively, 65 and 47 countries and regions taking part.

For more information, please visit: the Polish study website, the IEA website, and the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center website.

Data and instruments

PIRLS was initiated by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). The TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development of Boston College is responsible for conducting the study. PIRLS measures the literacy skills of students. The study has been conducted every five years since 2001. Poland has participated in it since 2006.

The study measures the skills of students in their fourth year of formal schooling, with the average age of students at the time of the assessment being not less than 9.5 years. In Poland, third-grade students were assessed in 2006 and 2011; since 2016, fourth-grade students have been assessed.

The study is conducted on a representative, random sample of students. The sampling is done in two stages – first, schools are randomly selected, and then specific classes are randomly chosen within those schools. All students from the selected classes are invited to participate in the study. During the assessment, which takes place at school, students complete task sets containing informational and literary texts, and then complete questionnaires. Approximately 150 schools and 4,000–5,000 students usually participate in the study in each country.

In addition to knowledge and skills, the study examines a range of contextual factors relating to, among others, students’ opinions and attitudes, their home environment and educational experiences, teachers’ opinions and experiences, teaching processes at the classroom and school level, and the school’s resources and organization. Data on these issues are collected through questionnaires completed by students, their parents, school principals, native language teachers (from the assessed classes).

The PIRLS study in Poland has so far been conducted in paper format. PIRLS 2026 will be the first cycle in which Poland will participate using the computer-based version of the assessment.

A team from the Central Examination Board conducted the first two cycles of the PIRLS study in Poland (2006 and 2011). The Educational Research Institute is responsible for subsequent study cycles, undertaken on behalf of the Ministry of National Education. PIRLS 2026 is being conducted as part of the project "Preparation and implementation of international educational research in the field of key competences" financed by European Funds for Social Development (FERS).

The number of countries and regions participating in successive cycles of PIRLS has varied. In the first cycle of 2001, 37 countries and regions took part, while in the most recent one, PIRLS 2021, 65 countries and regions participated.

For more information, please visit: the Polish study website, the IEA website, and the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center website.

PISA was initiated and is organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It is coordinated by the PISA team at the OECD Secretariat. The priorities of the study are set by the PISA Governing Board, which includes one representative from the Ministry of Education of each participating country.

Until now, PISA has been conducted every three years (with the exception of 2022, when it was postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Starting from 2025, it will be conducted every four years. Poland has participated in every cycle of PISA since its very beginning in 2000.

PISA measures the skills of fifteen-year-olds that are essential for effective functioning in adult life in the following areas:

• reading,
• mathematics,
• science.

In each cycle of the study, one of these three domains is designated as the major focus and is more extensively developed. This allows for more precise and detailed analyses of that particular area. The major domains in each cycle of the study were as follows: reading – in 2000, 2009, and 2018; mathematics – in 2003, 2012, and 2022; science – in 2006, 2015, and 2025.

Each cycle of the study can also include additional domains and components, both national and international. Poland participated in the financial literacy assessment in 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2022; in the problem-solving assessment in 2006 and 2012; and in the creative thinking assessment in 2022. Polish students are taking part in the “learning in the digital world” assessment in PISA 2025.

The study also covers a range of contextual issues, relating, among other things, to students’ opinions and attitudes, their home environment and educational experiences, as well as school resources and organization. Data on these issues are collected through questionnaires completed by students and school principals from the sampled schools, and – depending on the cycle and country – also by teachers of the assessed domains and students’ parents.

Participants in the PISA study are students who turned 15 in the year preceding the assessment. During the period in Poland when the education system included six-year primary schools and lower secondary schools (gimnazjum), nearly all 15-year-old PISA participants attended the third year of lower secondary school. Under the current system of eight-year primary schools, the participants are mainly students in the first and second years of upper secondary school.

The study is conducted on a representative, random sample of students. Based on the results, conclusions can be drawn about the entire population of 15-year-olds attending school in a given country. The sampling is done in two stages – first, schools are randomly selected, and then individual students are randomly chosen from those schools. In Poland, approximately 200–250 schools are usually involved in the study.

During the assessment, students complete task sets in specific study domains, followed by questionnaires. In the 2000–2012 cycles, the study was conducted in paper format. Since 2006, elements of computer-based assessment have been gradually introduced. They were first implemented in Poland in 2009. Since 2015, the PISA study has been conducted primarily as a computer-based assessment, and since 2018, adaptive testing has been introduced in the major assessment domains. This allows the difficulty level of questions to be adjusted to the estimated skill level of the students tested.

The first cycles of the study in Poland were conducted by the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFiS PAN). Since 2015, the Educational Research Institute has been responsible for implementing the study on behalf of the Ministry of National Education. In the first PISA cycle in 2000, 43 countries and regions participated, including Poland. Since then, the number of participating countries has increased significantly. More than 90 countries and regions are taking part in PISA 2025.

More information is available on the Polish PISA study website and on the OECD website.

Data and instruments