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Participating Countries

Education system 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021
PIRLS PIRLS PIRLS PIRLS ePIRLS Digital Paper
Albania
Argentina            
Australia1        
Austria      
Azerbaijan        
Bahrain2          
Belgium (Flemish)-BEL        
Belgium (French)-BEL      
Belize          
Botswana3        
Brazil1        
Bulgaria    
Canada    
Chile            
Chinese Taipei  
Colombia          
Croatia2          
Cyprus          
Czech Republic      
Denmark4  
Egypt          
England-GBR1    
Finland        
France    
Georgia2  
Germany    
Greece            
Honduras3          
Hong Kong-CHN    
Hungary2    
Iceland5          
Indonesia          
Iran, Islamic Republic of1    
Ireland2    
Israel1,6  
Italy
Jordan
Kazakhstan2          
Kosovo  
Kuwait3      
Latvia2      
Lithuania2    
Luxembourg            
Macao-CHN          
Malta        
Moldova, Republic of          
Montenegro        
Morocco2,7    
Netherlands    
New Zealand    
North Macedonia        
Northern Ireland-GBR2        
Norway5,8
Oman        
Poland      
Portugal    
Qatar2,6      
Romania        
Russian Federation    
Saudi Arabia2        
Scotland-GBR          
Serbia
Singapore
Slovak Republic    
Slovenia
South Africa1          
Spain      
Sweden9
Trinidad and Tobago        
Turkey          
United Arab Emirates2    
United States2,11
Uzbekistan
Total 34 40 48 49 14 26 31
U.S. benchmarking states              
Florida-USA            
Total 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Other benchmarking participants              
Abu Dhabi-UAE2    
Alberta-CAN      
Andalusia-ESP      
British Columbia-CAN        
Buenos Aires-ARG            
Dubai-UAE2    
Eng/Afr/Zulu-ZAF10    
Madrid-ESP            
Maltese-MLT            
Moscow City-RUS          
Newfoundland & Labrador-CAN          
Nova Scotia-CAN            
Ontario-CAN    
Quebec-CAN2    
South Africa (6)12    
Total 2 5 8 9 2 7 2

= Indicates participation in particular assessment with results reported.

= Indicates participation in particular assessment, but results either not reported or reported separately.

1 Administered PIRLS 2021 one year after the original assessment window to 4th-grade students at the end of the 2021–22 school year.

2 Administered PIRLS 2021 six months after the original assessment window to 5th-grade students at the beginning of the 2021–22 school year.

3 Administered the PIRLS 4th-grade assessment to 6th-grade students in 2011.

4 Administered the PIRLS 4th-grade assessment to both 3rd-grade and 4th-grade students in 2016.

5 Administered the PIRLS 4th-grade assessment to both 4th-grade students and 5th-grade students in 2006.

6 Participated in 2001 and/or 2006 but data not comparable for measuring trends to 2011, primarily due to countries improving translations or increasing population coverage.

7 Administered the PIRLS 4th-grade assessment to both 4th-grade students and 6th-grade students in 2011.

8 Starting in PIRLS 2016, Norway chose to assess students in the 5th year of schooling, so students would be compared with similar age students in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. To maintain trend with previous PIRLS cycles, in 2016 Norway also collected data from students in their 4th year of schooling. The ePIRLS assessment in 2016 was administered only to students in their 5th year of schooling.

9 Administered the PIRLS 4th-grade assessment to 3rd-grade students and 4th-grade students in 2001.

10 South Africa (ZAF) tested 5th-grade students receiving instruction in English (ENG) or Afrikaans (AFR) in 2011 and in English, Afrikaans, or Zulu in 2016.

11 The United States administered the PIRLS 2021 assessment digitally, but reported results of its paper-bridge assessment. For more details, please see the PIRLS Frequently Asked Questions.

12 Administered PIRLS 2021 one year after the original assessment window to 6th-grade students at the end of the 2021–22 school year.

NOTE: OECD member countries are shown in bold. Subnational education systems are italicized.

SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS).

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