PIRLS 2026 is the sixth cycle of the international reading and literacy assessment and one of the flagship studies of IEA.
Directed by the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College, PIRLS is conducted every five years at the fourth grade, and PIRLS 2026 will mark 25 years of trend data. IEA’s PIRLS provides internationally comparative data on how well children read by assessing fourth-grade students’ reading achievement and offers policy-relevant information for improving teaching and learning.
PIRLS 2026 completes the transition to a fully digital assessment making it possible for all students to participate in a reading assessment based on a variety of visually attractive, colorful, and interactive reading materials. This digital assessment system will make it possible for students to participate in a unified reading assessment that reflects the younger students’ many reading experiences in- and out-of-school and are designed to engage and motivate students. Furthermore, the digital environment provides the opportunity to collect process data about how students proceed through the assessment, making it possible to examine the response strategies and processes used by successful readers.
Countries requiring a paper option can consider IEA’s LaNA which uses less difficult paper-based versions of PIRLS and TIMSS to assess literacy and numeracy and provides a broad estimate of achievement on the PIRLS and TIMSS scales.
Total number of education systems participating in PIRLS 2026: 64
Albania; Australia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahrain; Belgium, Flemish; Belgium, French; Brazil; Bulgaria; Canada; Canada (Ontario); Canada (Quebec); Chinese Taipei; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; England; Finland; France; Georgia; Germany; Hong Kong SAR; Hungary; Iran, Islamic Rep. of; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Korea, Rep. of; Kuwait; Latvia; Lithuania; Macao SAR; Malta; Montenegro; Morocco; Netherlands; New Zealand; North Macedonia, Rep. of; Northern Ireland; Norway; Oman; Poland; Portugal; Qatar; Romania; Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of; Scotland; Serbia; Singapore; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; South Africa; Spain; Sweden; Tajikistan; United Arab Emirates; United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi); United Arab Emirates (Dubai); United Arab Emirates (Sharjah); Uzbekistan; Wales.
Benchmarking entities are listed in brackets.
16 February 2023
1st meeting of National Research Coordinators (NRCs)
11—16 February 2024
2nd NRC meeting
02—07 June 2024
3rd NRC Meeting
20 June 2024
Publication of PIRLS 2026 Frameworks
15 October—15 November 2024
Pilot study
03 March—30 April 2025
Field Trial
10—14 March 2025
4th NRC Meeting
Mid-2025
Field trial data analysis
17—22 August 2025
5th NRC meeting
08—13 March 2026
6th NRC Meeting
March—June 2026
Main survey data collection in Northern Hemisphere countries
September—December 2026
Main survey data collection in Southern Hemisphere countries
04—09 April 2027
7th NRC meeting
19—22 July 2027
8th NRC Meeting
November 2027
PIRLS 2026 Encyclopedia release
December 2027
Publication of the results
February 2028
Launch of a public-use database and documentation
9th NRC Meeting