Press Release: Top-performer Finland improves further in PISA Survey as gap between countries widens

Are students well prepared to meet the challenges of the future? Are they able to analyse, reason and communicate their ideas effectively? Do they have the capacity to continue learning throughout life? Parents, students, the public and those who run education systems continually ask these questions. PISA, a three-yearly survey (2000, 2003, 2006...) of 15-year-olds in the principal industrialised countries, provides some answers. It assesses how far students near the end of compulsory education have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in society.

OECD: PISA: http://www.oecd.org/document/28/0,2340,en_2649_201185_34010524_1_1_1_1,00.html

Learning for Tomorrow's World: First results from PISA 2003 (OECD, 2004) http://www.oecd.org/document/55/0,3343,en_32252351_32236173_33917303_1_1_1_1,00.html

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