Catalonia excluded from international PISA comparison

Catalonia will be unable to participate in the international comparison of the latest OECD PISA educational assessment because the number of excluded students exceeded permitted limits. While the Ministry will publish regional data, the results cannot be compared with other countries or previous editions.

Reports indicate that 23.2% of selected students were excluded, significantly higher than the 5% maximum allowed by the OECD. These exclusions typically occur when students have special educational needs or insufficient language proficiency. Experts suggest that the review process by the Higher Council for the Evaluation of the Educational System may not have been rigorous enough to correct the sample in time.

This loss of comparative data follows a period of declining performance in Catalonia. In the 2022 assessment, Catalan scores in mathematics, reading, and science fell below the averages of Spain, the European Union, and the OECD. The inability to contrast 2025 data with international benchmarks creates a gap in understanding the current trajectory of the region's educational standards.