PISA 2022
Summary of results:
- Estonian 15-year-olds rank at the top in Europe and among the top eight globally in knowledge and skills, excelling in mathematics, science, and reading.
- The Minister of Education and Research attributes this success to the professional skills of Estonian teachers and their equal attention to all students.
- The PISA 2022 involved 690,000 students globally, including 6,392 Estonian students from 196 schools.
- Estonian students reported high life satisfaction, with an average score higher than the OECD average.
- Estonian students possess a growth mindset, believing in their ability to improve intelligence and future prospects.
- Students in Estonia feel safe at school and are ready for self-directed learning.
- Estonian teachers have significant autonomy in curriculum setting and school management.
- Challenges include a shortage of qualified teachers and the increasing influence of socioeconomic background on education quality.
- Estonian students showed less decline in performance compared to other countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
PISA tests are held once every three years. Each year of assessment focuses on one of these subjects, with the other two assessed but to a lesser extent. There have been five PISA surveys:
- PISA 2000 – reading
- PISA 2003 – mathematics
- PISA 2006 – natural sciences
- PISA 2009 – reading
- PISA 2012 – mathematics
- PISA 2015 - natural sciences
- PISA 2018 - reading
- PISA 2022 – mathematics
A regularly conducted survey provides an opportunity to identify education trends worldwide.
Estonia has been participating in PISA surveys since 2006. Taking part in international surveys provides us with information about the functioning and results of our educational system compared to other countries. Regular participation helps us identify trends in educational outcomes as well as in background systems, which in turn allows us to propose necessary changes and improvement actions.
In most countries compulsory education ends after the child has turned 15 and the student proceeds to make personal choices regarding his/her path for further education. The sample of the survey includes students aged between15 years and 3 months to 16 years and 2 months.
The following is surveyed in PISA:
- How well-prepared young people are to face the challenges ahead
- Are the students capable of analysing, finding causes and presenting their own ideas
- How capable students are in applying their skills and knowledge in real life situations
The main goal of PISA tests is to assess students’ competences which enable them to be actively engaged in life after leaving school. PISA measures students’ capacity to apply their skills and knowledge in real-life personal, social and global contexts. The term “literacy” is used to emphasise the students’ application of their knowledge in everyday life. For example, the functional reading test assesses students’ ability to obtain and assess information, read diagrams, find associations in a text, interpret, draw conclusions, etc.
Students fill in test booklets containing questions about the main subject of assessment and other two subjects. These skills are assessed by using problem-solving tasks, which usually contain a text, diagram, table or graph, with the questions constructed so tasks that students have to undertake are as close as possible to those they might come across in the real world. The students have two hours to complete the test.
After completing the test, students fill in a questionnaire about their attitudes towards the subject, e.g. science or reading, and their background. Heads of school also complete a short questionnaire about the number of employees, attitudes of teachers, independence of the school and its teachers, resources, practices, policies, etc.
The sample is designed to be representative of the total student population – the proportion of boys and girls, urban and rural schools, schools with different languages of instruction, etc. Countries are given concrete guidelines about which schools and students can be excluded from the sample. The proportion of students that the sample must cover is also determined.
In order to ensure the accuracy of an international survey, it is very important that every participating country strictly adheres to sampling requirements. The participation rate must be at least 80% of the students and 85% of the schools selected into the sample. Rules allowed countries to exclude up to 5% of the target population. It is very important that countries follow the procedural rules; only this ensures the comparability of the results.
The numbers of schools and students participating in the PISA test
- In 2006, more than 400,000 students from 57 countries participated in the survey. Estonia’s sample included 4,865 students from 169 schools.
- In 2009, 65 countries and economic regions took part and the number of participating students was about 470,000. Estonia’s sample: 4,727 students from 175 schools (2,297 girls and 2,430 boys; 3,841 from Estonian-medium schools and 886 from Russian-medium schools). 138 schools included in the sample were Estonian-medium schools, 31 Russian-medium schools and 6 were schools with several languages of instruction.
- In 2012, about 510,000 students from 65 countries and economic regions participated in the test. Estonia’s sample: the total sample included 5,867 students from 206 schools of which 1,088 students only took the financial literacy test. The main part of the test was taken by 4,779 students: 2,409 girls and 2,370 boys, of them 3,784 Estonian-medium schools 995 from Russian-medium schools. 166 schools were Estonian-medium schools, 37 Russian-medium schools and 3 with two different languages of instruction.
- In 2015, more than half a million students from 72 countries and economic regions participated in the test. Estonia's sample: the total sample included 5587 students from 206 schools of which 2788 were girls and 2799 were boys. 78% of participants did the test in Estonian, while 22% in Russian.
- In 2019, around 600 000 students from 79 countries and economic regions participated in the test. Estonia's sample: the total sample included 5371 students from 231 schools of which 2651 were girls and 2665 were boys. 75% of participants did the test in Estonian, while 25% in Russian.
- In 2022, 81 countries and economic regions participated with 690,000 students. Estonian sample: the total sample included 6392 students from 196 schools, of which 3120 were girls and 3272 were boys. 77% of students took the test in Estonian and 23% in Russian.
Comparison of the results of the PISA tests in Estonia
The graph shows the changes in all literacies in Estonian students average PISA test results of 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2022.
PISA 2022
In the spring of 2022, 15-year-old students took the PISA test, which consisted of tasks in mathematics, reading, science and creative thinking. The emphasis this time was on mathematics. It was the first PISA study after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Similar to other countries that participated in the study, the results of Estonian students have decreased compared to the 2018 PISA study, but the decrease in results is smaller than in other countries.
The reasons for the global decline in PISA results should be sought in the exceptional events that took place during the preparation and implementation of the 2022 survey - the COVID-19 pandemic and the start of the war in Ukraine.
The 2022 survey included 690,000 15-year-olds from 81 countries and economic regions.6392 young people from Estonia participated from 196 schools and every county, 77% of them took the test in Estonian and 23% in Russian. Of the respondents, 3120 were girls and 3272 were boys.
- According to PISA 2022, the knowledge of Estonian children is at the top in the world and at the absolute top in Europe. The results of our students fell less compared to other countries, which shows that we were able to organize education quite well during the corona crisis.
- According to PISA 2022, Estonia's result in mathematics is 510 points. In the European ranking, we share 1st-2nd place with Switzerland and according to the statistical average we are ranked 7th in the world.
- According to PISA 2022, Estonia's result in natural sciences is 526 points. According to the average results, Estonian students placed 6th in the field of natural sciences after Singapore, Japan, Macau (China), Taipei (China) and Korea. Estonia ranks 1st among European countries.
- According to PISA 2022, Estonian students ranked 6th in functional reading after Singapore, Ireland, Japan, Taipei (China) and Korea. The average result in Estonia is 511 points. In Europe we share 1st-2nd position with Ireland.
Strengths of Estonian education
- The knowledge of Estonian children is at the top in the world and at the absolute top in Europe. The results of our students fell less compared to other countries, which shows that we were able to organize education quite well during the corona crisis.
- Estonian children believe that their results are in their own hands. Similar to the 2018 PISA results, we are also now in first place in the comparison of countries in terms of growth mindset (growth mindset means the belief that a person's ability and intelligence can develop as a result of effort).
- Estonian children feel safe at school. Students' sense of security is higher than on average in OECD countries. The feeling of safety in the classroom and in other areas of the school is similar to the OECD average.
- Estonian basic education forms self-directed learners. Estonia is among the countries where seven out of ten students feel that they are ready for self-directed learning.
- Estonian students are mostly satisfied with their lives despite having very good knowledge and skills.
- Estonian students' assessment of their life satisfaction (average 6.91 points on a 10-point scale) is higher than the OECD average (6.75), similar to Swedish students (6.91) and slightly lower than in Finland (7.41).
- Estonian teachers have significant autonomy in curriculum setting and school management.
Challenges in Estonian education
- The shortage of qualified teachers has increased compared to the results of the previous survey.
- The influence of students' socioeconomic background on receiving quality education has increased, we are approaching the OECD average (Estonia 13.4%; OECD 15.5%).
- The results of schools with an Estonian language of instruction are better than schools with a Russian language of instruction.
- The results of students in elementary schools in smaller cities have fallen, but the results of students in elementary schools in rural areas of Estonia are very strong, being 34 points above the OECD average.
PISA results
PISA and Estonia: international media
Last updated: 11.12.2023