Use of ICT is integral to all aspects of daily lives, education systems recognize the essential value of digital literacy competencies. The fourth cycle of ICILS (following from 2013, 2018, and 2023) helps countries understand how digital literacy is being planned, resourced, and implemented and how contextual factors influence and relate to student learning. It also contributes to the European Commission’s Digital Education Action Plan (2021−2027) to reduce the proportion of eighth-grade students with computer and information literacy (CIL) below level two to less than 15% by 2030.
ICILS is the only international large-scale assessment that focuses solely on digital literacy education and provides measures that can be used to monitor changes in students’ digital literacy achievement over time.
This cycle of ICILS is directed by the ICILS International Study Center at IEA.
ICILS provides reliable, comparative, and actionable data that can help monitor progress toward education policy goals, such as the UN’ Sustainable Development Goal 4 (4.4.1) which measures the proportion of youth/adults with ICT skills and the European Commission’s Digital Education Action Plan.
ICILS 2028 will allow countries to:
- Use ICILS data to make informed decisions about how best to prepare students for life in an age of constantly evolving digital technologies, education policy, and practice.
- Gain deeper insights into how AI is used and how it can be implemented within policy, resourcing, planning, and teaching and learning in schools.
- Address new challenges associated with young people’s development of essential digital literacy competencies.
- Generate internationally comparable indicators of students’ computer and information literacy and computational thinking.
03−07 March 2025:
First meeting of the NRCs (National Research Coordinators) in Hamburg, Germany
Mid 2025:
Assessment framework revision and instrument development
November 2025
Second meeting of the NRCs
2026
Pilot implementation and release of field test instruments
Third meeting of the NRCs
2027
Field test data collection and main survey instrument release
Fourth meeting of the NRCs
2028
Main survey data collection
2029
Data analysis and scaling
5th meeting of the NRCs
Release of the ICILS 2028 International Report and Results
2030
Public release of the ICILS 2028 International Database and User Guide
In recognition of the contribution from ICILS data toward developing European education policies, the European Commission is working to provide funding for Erasmus+ countries participating in ICILS 2028. The initiative—led by the Education, Audiovisual, and Culture Executive Agency—provides up to 75% of international costs for Erasmus+ countries to participate.
For country enrollment, please contact IEA Amsterdam Director, Dr. Andrea Netten. Detailed information about ICILS 2028 costs and timelines involved are available in the information pack below.