Catalonia excluded from PISA 2025 results after sample anomaly

Catalonia PISA 2025 exemption rate OECD Esther Niubo

The Spanish Ministry of Education warned the Catalan government in April 2025 that the PISA 2025 sample showed an exemption rate of about 23.2 % – far above the OECD limit of 5 %. Roughly 2,500 pupils were selected for the test and around 500 were excluded, mainly for severe disabilities or insufficient language proficiency.

The OECD subsequently decided in March 2026 to omit Catalonia’s data from the international PISA report, meaning the region’s results will not be comparable with other Spanish autonomous communities, previous editions, or other countries. Catalonia’s Education Minister Esther Niubo called the incident a “technical problem”, opened a confidential internal investigation in March 2026 and appeared before the Catalan Parliament to explain the issue.

The episode has triggered a political outcry. Opposition parties such as VOX and the PP have demanded Niubo’s resignation and called for a parliamentary inquiry. Union leaders and other parties have also pressed the government for accountability, while the Spanish Ministry maintains that the communications were confined to technical staff and were not escalated to higher officials.

Entities

Associació de Directius de l’Educació Pública de Catalunya (AXIA) · Catalonia · Esther Niubo · OECD · Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD) · PISA 2025 · Salvador Illa · Spanish Ministry of Education · USTEC‑STEs · Vox

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.

[● 3 SOURCES] An internal investigation into the PISA sampling error was launched in March and remains ongoing. www.vilaweb.cat · beteve.cat · www.cope.es
[○ 1 SOURCE] President Salvador Illa described the issue as a technical matter and expressed support for Niubo. lamanyana.cat
[● 2 SOURCES] The OECD declared Catalonia's PISA results non‑representative and omitted them from the international report. www.totrubi.cat · www.lavanguardia.com
[● 3 SOURCES] Opposition parties (PP, ERC, Junts) demanded political responsibility and some called for Niubo’s resignation. www.libertaddigital.com · www.larepublica.cat
[● 3 SOURCES] 591 Catalan students were excluded from the PISA 2025 sample. www.totrubi.cat · www.cope.es · www.lavanguardia.com
[○ 1 SOURCE] Union USTEC accused the Catalan government of hiding the issue for months. www.larepublica.cat
[● 5 SOURCES] Education Minister Esther Niubo appeared before the Catalan Parliament to explain the PISA incident. www.ara.cat · www.vilaweb.cat · beteve.cat · www.cope.es · www.lavanguardia.com
[● 2 SOURCES] The exclusion rate was 23.2% of the selected sample, exceeding the OECD limit of 5%. www.totrubi.cat · www.lavanguardia.com
[● 5 SOURCES] Approximately 2,500 Catalan pupils were selected for PISA, of which about 500 were exempted. www.3cat.cat · www.elmundo.es · www.totrubi.cat · www.lavanguardia.com
[● 3 SOURCES] Catalonia’s exemption rate was about 23.2 %, far above the OECD threshold of 5 %. www.3cat.cat · www.elnacional.cat
[● 3 SOURCES] The Spanish Ministry of Education alerted the Catalan government in April 2025 about a high exemption rate in the PISA 2025 assessment. www.3cat.cat · www.elnacional.cat
[○ 1 SOURCE] Communications about the PISA incident were limited to technical staff and not escalated to higher administrative levels. www.elnacional.cat