PISA 2025 Foreign Language Assessment

For the first time, more than 20 countries will assess their students’ foreign language competence in English as a Foreign language as part of PISA 2025. Discover how this assessment will generate comparable data on students’ foreign language proficiency and invaluable insights into best practices for teaching and learning a foreign language.

Focus

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

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About

‌‌The Foreign Language Assessment (FLA) will be composed of:

A test to assess foreign language proficiency
A set of questionnaire modules for teachers, students, schools and parents as well as a system-level questionnaire to collect context and policy-relevant information

The assessment will include key language competencies that are needed to study and work in a globalised world. The first cycle will start with the assessment of English, which is the most commonly taught foreign language in schools around the world, and will focus on three skills:

The coverage of languages and skills may progressively widen in future cycles.

The conceptual framework that was used to guide instrument development, and a brochure that summarises this framework, are available here:

PISA 2025 Foreign Language Assessment framework: English, Spanish
PISA 2025 Foreign Language Assessment framework Brochure: English, Spanish

Objective

The FLA aims to inform and improve language teaching by providing:

International Comparisons

Proficiency levels based on the CEFR scale
Performance results that take into account context factors

National diagnostics

Strengths and weaknesses in the mastery of foreign languages
Achievement gaps and variation within the school system
Analysis of trends

Policy and practice lessons

Identification of best practices in the teaching and learning of foreign languages in school settings

Why language learning is important

In today’s global world, a large number of people need to reach some level of proficiency in more than one language to be able to communicate and interact with others. Globalisation, technological innovation and human migration flows have made interactions amongst people from different countries and cultures increasingly more important.

Countries and economies are aware of these opportunities and are channelling efforts to foster the multiple benefits that come with learning foreign languages.

Foreign language skills are increasing their importance in curricula around the world and governments are keen to know if their efforts to promote foreign language teaching and learning are effective. Moreover, policy makers need evidence on the most effective policies and teaching approaches and methods used to provide students with the skills they will need in the future – and right now.

INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING

Foreign languages act as a bridge to other people, countries and cultures.In doing so, they help promote respect for diversity and inclusiveness.

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

Knowing one or more foreign languages is associated with higher chances to access to tertiary education and employability – domestically and globally.

COGNITIVE BENEFITS

Learning foreign languages increases cognitive abilities, such as flexibility, problem solving, abstract and creative thinking.

The FLA is a collaborative effort

Many actors have been involved in the development and implementation of the FLA, including representatives from governments of countries and economies participating in PISA, researchers, national and international experts, partners, and the OECD Secretariat.

Government representatives are actively participating in the design of the assessment and framework, in the choice of the policy questions they expect the assessment to answer and in the design of the questionnaires through workshops, written feedback, and online meetings.

Researchers and experts are providing inputs, advice and guidance throughout all the stages of the assessment design and development.
The European Commission (EC) follows the development of the test closely, assisting with expertise built on previous work at EU level and the European Framework of Reference for Language Competences. The EC is also co-funding the development of the framework and the contextual questionnaires, the pilot of speaking and listening, country engagement, the preparation of the implementation, the preparation of a case studies publication in five countries the implementation, and the analysis and dissemination of results.

The test is being developed in a partnership with Cambridge Assessment English.‌

The OECD Secretariat has a coordinating role of all the above actors as well as with the PISA Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and the contractors for PISA 2025 who will be in charge of implementing the assessment.

Questions about the assessment? Contact Tue Halgreen or Catalina Covacevich

Participants

Belgium (Flemish community)	Bulgaria
Colombia	Croatia
Czechia	Denmark
Dominican Republic	Finland
France	Germany
Greece	Israel
Italy	Netherlands
Panama*	Peru
Portugal	Qatar
Romania	Spain
Sweden	Chinese Taipei
Ukraine

*Panama will participate in the FLA teacher questionnaire but not in the student assessment.

Timeline

Speaking and listening assessment pilot

So far PISA has focused on reading and writing skills in different domains. Speaking and listening skills have never been included in PISA, so assessing them presents an opportunity to expand PISA’s assessment methodology. These competences are central for the construct being assessed and the Expert Group has advised that their assessment is viable within the PISA constraints if adequate room arrangements are implemented.

A pilot was carried out in a diverse group of five volunteer countries during the PISA 2022 Field Trial. Overall, the pilot study confirmed the feasibility of assessing speaking and listening skills in PISA. The pilot also helped identify areas of attention for the preparation and implementation that will ensure a successful test situation.

Publications

PISA 2025 Foreign Language Assessment Framework

Full version: English, Spanish
Brochure: English, Spanish

How 15-Year-Olds Learn English: Case Studies from Finland, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands and Portugal

Read the publication

How language learning open doors

Read the publication

What matters for language learning? The questionnaire framework for the PISA 2025 Foreign Language Assessment

Read the working paper

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PISA 2025 Foreign Language Assessment

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Objective

Why language learning is important

The FLA is a collaborative effort

Participants

Timeline

Speaking and listening assessment pilot

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Announcement

PISA 2025 Foreign Language Assessment: Language learning for success in an interconnected world

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Lights, Camera, Fluency: How pop music, podcasts, and TikTok are impacting English language learning

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