Survey of student achievement 2000

Key Facts

Survey coverage:

• School students aged 15 in England & Northern Ireland

Survey aims:

• Baseline indicators to profile the knowledge, skills and competencies of students
• Contextual indicators showing how such skills relate to important demographic, social, economic and educational factors
• Trend indicators that emerge from the 3 cycles of the data collection in 2000, 2003 and 2006

Sample sizes obtained in the first cycle in 2000:

• 4,210 students in 155 schools in England;
• 2,849 students in 115 schools in Northern Ireland

Background to the study

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) launched the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to assess young people's reading, mathematical and scientific literacy. PISA is a school-based survey of 15-year-old students. All OECD countries as well as several others took part in the study. In England the survey was sponsored by the Department for Education and Skills. In Northern Ireland, the Department of Education sponsored the research.

The Office for National Statistics managed the UK project and conducted the survey in England. In Northern Ireland, the Central Survey Unit of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency conducted the survey. The Australian Council for Educational Research headed the international consortium. The first cycle took place in March 2000 and mainly assessed reading literacy with some coverage of mathematics and science. The survey will be repeated in March 2003 when mathematics will be the major domain. Science will be the main focus in 2006. For each cycle of the survey, we will select a fresh sample of students and schools.

How was the survey done?

In March 2000, students in England and Northern Ireland sat a two-hour assessment and a half-hour background questionnaire. The students had been randomly selected in our sample of schools, and were almost all enrolled in Year 10 or Year 11 (Years 11 and 12 in Northern Ireland). Some of the test items used in the study are publicly available although most are not as they will be used in future rounds of the survey. Examples of test items can be found at www.pisa.oecd.org. Three PDF files containing some of the released test items are also available:

Reading items, Mathematics items, Science items.

Topics in the students' background questionnaire included parents' socio-economic background, attitudes to reading and reading habits, instructional practices at school, and parental involvement in education. Information was also sought from the schools, such as levels of staffing and educational resources and their implications for teaching and learning. The questionnaires are available.

School questionnaire for England
School questionnaire for Northern Ireland
School questionnaire for England and Northern Ireland

Where can the results be found?

The OECD and ONS have published the results from the first cycle of PISA.

The report 'Student achievement in England - Results in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy among 15-year-olds from the OECD PISA 2000 study' was published on 20 May 2002. A copy of the report can be found at: www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=8169. This report describes student achievement in England in the three literacy domains and places the results for England in the context of achievement in other OECD countries. The report also explores how achievement in England was associated with various characteristics of the students and their families, and of the schools they attended. Of particular interest is the relationship between student achievement and the socio-economic background of their parents, and whether they were in local education authority or independent schools. The report also includes a description of the PISA assessment and the survey methods.

A similar report for Northern Ireland was published on 24 June 2002. Of particular interest is the relationship between student achievement and the socio-economic background of their parents, whether students attended a secondary or grammar school, and the management type of their school. A copy of the report can be found at: www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=8170&More=N

ONS published a First Release of the findings for England and another for Northern Ireland on the 4th December 2001 at www.statistics.gov.uk/press_release. These compare performance in England and Northern Ireland with the OECD countries that participated in PISA.

The OECD's initial report was released on 4th December 2001 and can be found at www.pisa.oecd.org. The OECD report describes student performance in all 32 participating countries, including the UK. It also looks in detail at: gender differences; students as learners in terms of their motivation and learning strategies; and performance in the context of students' backgrounds and their learning environment.

For more information about SSD or the surveys we carry out contact:
SSD Project Support Branch Tel: +44 (0)20 7533 5500 or e-mail: ssdpsb@ons.gov.uk

This page last revised: Monday, 24 June 2002