Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 National Centre for England, Wales and Northern Ireland

England, Wales and Northern Ireland participate in international comparison studies to benchmark our education policy and performance against other countries, review our system strengths and weaknesses in an international context, and monitor trends over time according to independent measures. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is one such study. The Department for Education, Welsh Government and Department of Education Northern Ireland require the contractor to deliver the following high-level objectives:

• Provide the role of National Project Manager and National Centre for England, Northern Ireland and Wales to the OECD and their international contractors.
• Administer PISA 2018 (core and selected optional components) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to the OECD's international project specification, meeting strict operational and response rate requirements.
• Undertake the sampling, data collection, coding and data cleaning requirements for the PISA 2018 study (including optional elements where appropriate), and requested national data analysis in addition to that undertaken by the international consortium.
• Develop and deliver an appropriate communication and dissemination plan, which ensures the key findings from the PISA 2018 study are shared and understood within the national context of each of England, Northern Ireland and Wales. As a minimum, this should include the publication of a national PISA 2018 research report outlining the key findings for education policy design and delivery for each of England, Northern Ireland and Wales, to coincide with the publication of international findings.