Indicator D6. What assessments and examinations of students are in place?
National, or central, assessments are standardised tests with no consequence on students’ progression through school or certification. They are more prevalent at primary and lower secondary levels than at upper secondary level across OECD countries and other participants. At lower secondary level, around two-thirds of the OECD countries conduct at least one such assessment in general programmes every year.
National, or central, examinations are standardised tests with formal consequence on students’ progression through school or certification. More than three-quarters of the OECD countries have national, or central, examinations in the final years of upper secondary education (in general programmes). A large majority of these countries use these examinations to grant students access to tertiary education.
Reading, writing and literature is assessed in nearly all of the OECD countries with national/central assessments at lower secondary level. Among the OECD countries where it is compulsory to assess at least one subject area in national/central examinations at upper secondary level, reading, writing and literature is a compulsory subject tested in a majority of them.
Context
Evaluation in education can encompass a large number of issues and can use different tools to assess the quality and effectiveness of education systems. Countries can use a combination of student examinations and assessments, school inspections, school self-evaluations, and reports on schools’ compliance with regional or national rules and regulations. This indicator focuses on the way student assessments and examinations at national (central) level are used in primary education and in general programmes of secondary education.
In recent years, the use of national (or central where the highest level of educational authority in a country is below national level – see below) assessments has increased, reflecting a wider trend towards enhanced accountability for public services (OECD, 2013[1]). National/central assessments can provide diagnostic information that teachers can use to address areas of weaknesses in students’ learning. Assessments reflect the evolution of student learning at lower levels of education: ensuring that all learners develop essential basic skills in the early years, in preparation for high-stakes examinations at the end of secondary education. They can also provide comparative information to monitor educational performance across schools, regions and nationally, and to measure the equity of learning outcomes.
National/central examinations influence students’ future pathways, including their eligibility for higher levels of education. As education systems have widened access to promote upper secondary attainment (Indicator A1), national/central examinations at the end of lower secondary level are used to certify completion of that level of education. Meanwhile, the results of upper secondary national examinations are considered among one of many criteria for selection to tertiary education in many countries (Indicator D6 (OECD, 2019[2])).
Note: Number of assessments and examination reported refers to the maximum that one student is expected to take for the specified level of education. Some assessments are not conducted annually, and thus may not have been conducted in the school year 2023.
1. Some assessments are sample-based. See Source Table for details.
2. Assessment for one grade will commence in the next school year (at lower secondary level in Austria and at primary level in Spain).
Source: OECD (2023), Tables D6.1 and D6.2. For more information see Source section and Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes (OECD, 2023[3]).
Other findings
It is mandatory for all upper secondary students to take national/central examination(s) in about two-thirds of the countries and other participants with data. In the remaining one-third, only students wishing to progress to tertiary education are required to take the examinations, or examinations are not needed to certify completion of upper secondary education.
About two-fifths of the countries and other participants with data reported making moderate or high levels of use of the results of national/central assessments at lower secondary level when evaluating school performance.
Note
“National/central assessments and examinations” in this text refers to those defined at the highest level of authority in education in the country. In Belgium, the information refers to assessments and examinations in the Flemish and the French Communities. In the United Kingdom, it refers to assessments and examinations in England and Scotland.
Among the many evaluation mechanisms used in education systems, this indicator looks into two types of standardised student evaluations: national/central assessments and national/central examinations. National/central examinations, which apply to nearly all students, are standardised tests of what students are expected to know or be able to do, and have a formal consequence for students (e.g. eligibility to progress to a higher level of education). Like national/central examinations, national/central assessments are based on standardised student achievement tests. However, their results do not affect students’ progression through schooling or their certification.
National/central assessments of students
National/central assessments are more prevalent at primary and lower secondary levels than at upper secondary level. About four-fifths of the 39 countries and other participants with data available conduct at least one national/central assessment on students at primary level (33 countries and other participants). The share is similar for lower secondary level (32 countries and other participants). At upper secondary, less than two-fifths (14 countries and other participants) conduct such assessments (Figure D6.1).
National/central assessments take place in different grades throughout primary and secondary levels. They are commonly conducted six and nine years after the start of primary education (in 19 countries and other participants for each grade). As these grades are a part of lower secondary education in many countries, this analysis focuses on national/central assessments at lower secondary level in the 32 countries and other participants with available information (Table D6.1).
Main purposes of national/central assessments
In general, national/central assessments serve more than one purpose. These purposes can be classified into two types: formative purposes (providing feedback for improvement) and summative purposes (verifying whether objectives have been achieved, i.e. students successfully demonstrating learning outcomes). Of the 32 countries and other participants which use such assessments, about three-quarters reported making moderate or high levels of use of them for formative purposes, and about two-fifths reported doing so for summative purposes (Table D6.1).
Many countries use national/central assessments to inform teachers, students and parents how much students know about the assessed subject areas, which may provide them with formative evaluations of students. In 21 of the 32 countries and other participants with national/central assessments, they are used to provide student diagnostic information for teachers. About half of these countries also use them to provide formative feedback to parents and actively engage students in their own learning process. In Bulgaria, the national assessment is also used to help select students for selective upper secondary schools (Figure D6.2 and Table D6.1).
Some countries use national/central assessments to monitor the education system at the school and/or the system level. National/central assessments are used for evaluating school performance in 15 countries and other participants, and for monitoring the education system in a similar number of countries and other participants (Figure D6.2).
Five countries also use their national/central assessments for other purposes. For example, in Japan, national assessment is used to review and assess current educational policies. Sweden uses it to help teachers determine the final results at the end of lower secondary education (Figure D6.2 and Table D6.1).
Organisation of national/central assessments
As national/central assessments do not influence students’ progression, they do not need to be conducted every year. However, about three-quarters of the 32 countries and other participants with available information have at least one annual national/central assessment in lower secondary general programmes (Table D6.1).
All but two of these annual national/central assessments are required to be administered in all or a selected sample of public educational institutions. In Japan, even though the national assessment is not mandatory for public institutions, nearly all of them do administer it. In Scotland (United Kingdom), the central assessment is not required to be administered in all public institutions. In all countries, the requirement is similar for government-dependent private educational institutions, except in Denmark and Germany (Table D6.1).
These annual national/central assessments are mandatory for all students included in the scope of the assessment in all countries except in Japan and Scotland (United Kingdom) where they are not mandatory for public institutions (and consequently not mandatory for their students) and in Latvia where students participate voluntarily. Even when these assessments are compulsory for all students, some of them may be exempted. This is the case in all countries except the Slovak Republic. Examples of exemptions include students with special educational needs and those who are not proficient in the language which the assessments are written. However, a few countries (e.g. Bulgaria, France, Italy and Spain) adapt the assessment to accommodate students with special educational needs as much as possible (see Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes (OECD, 2023[3]), for details on criteria for student exemptions).
Seven countries have national assessments that are administered every two to five years (some of them have also annual national assessments). These non-annual national assessments are used to monitor the education system in Canada, Germany, the Republic of Türkiye and the United States, to evaluate performance of individual schools in Chile, or for both of these purposes in Colombia and the Czech Republic (Table D6.1).
Non-annual national assessments are sample-based in all these countries, and all sampled public institutions (and government-dependent private institutions) are required to administer the assessments, except in Chile and Germany. For countries with available data, the sample size is less than 25% of public institutions, and a similar or smaller share of government-dependent private institutions (Table D6.1).
National/central assessments are standardised at the central level in all countries and other participants, except in federal countries like Canada and Germany, where some standardisation may occur at the state level. In the standardisation process at the central level, the central-level education authority and/or agency responsible for assessments are involved in devising and developing national/central assessments across countries, except in Spain where state-level authorities and agencies are involved. In Canada, the Flemish Community of Belgium and Luxembourg, other types of entities are solely in charge of the development of the assessment, with support from the central-level authority (Table D6.1).
Marking and grading national/central assessments involve only the central-level education authority and/or agency responsible for assessments in 18 out of the 32 countries and other participants with national/central assessments. In other cases, lower levels of authority or agencies (at state, sub-regional or local levels), schools and teachers (whether the students’ own teachers, teachers from the students’ schools or teachers from different schools) are also involved. Among all countries and other participants with available information, only the private company (developing the automatic marking system) is involved in Scotland (United Kingdom). In the six countries where schools and teachers are involved in the marking, some guidance is provided at the national level (e.g. performance criteria or rubrics) (Table D6.1; see Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes (OECD, 2023[3]) for the type of mechanisms used to ensure reliable marking across students).
National/central assessments are highly centralised and schools have no internal control over national/central assessments in about three-fifth of the 32 countries and other participants. Schools have a low level of influence over the assessments in eight countries and a moderate level of influence in four countries and other participants. For example, schools have some control over the organisation of the assessments (in Lithuania, Scotland [United Kingdom], Sweden and Türkiye), the supervision of students during the assessment (in Hungary), or the use of the results (Japan), while they have more autonomy over marking them in Romania (Table D6.1).
Content of national/central assessments
The subject areas covered and how often they are included in these assessments signal their priority for the education authorities. At each level of education where national/central assessments take place, subjects covering mainly literacy and numeracy (reading, writing and literature, and mathematics) are assessed in nearly all countries and other participants (Figure D6.3).
Whatever their frequency, national/central assessments cover both reading, writing and literature and mathematics in almost all the 32 countries and other participants with national/central assessments at lower secondary level. The exceptions are Israel, where mathematics is not assessed, and Latvia, where neither of these subjects are assessed. Natural sciences and other languages (usually English) are each assessed in around two-thirds of the 32 countries and other participants. Social sciences is the fifth most assessed subject (14 countries). A little less than half of the 32 countries and other participants assess one or more other subject areas. Only a few also collect data on non-academic aspects such as school climate (6 countries and other participants), well-being (4 countries and other participants) and social and emotional skills (2 countries) (Figure D6.3 and Table D6.3, available on line).
Reading, writing and literature and mathematics are mandatory for all students participating in universal national/central assessments and all students in the sample-based national assessments in Estonia, Greece, Korea and Türkiye. In Israel, all students are assessed in reading, writing and literature. The United States is an exception, as students in the sample are not required to participate in the assessment in some states (Table D6.3, available on line).
Both reading, writing and literature and mathematics are assessed every year (or every round for non-annual assessments) in more than four-fifths of countries and other participants. Where these subjects are assessed on a rotating or ad-hoc basis, they are sample-based assessments (Table D6.3, available on line).
Although both natural sciences and other languages are assessed in a similar number of countries, their frequencies differ slightly. Other languages are assessed in each round in two-thirds of the countries and other participants covering this subject, while natural sciences are covered in each round in about half of them (Table D6.3, available on line).
Computer-based technology is used to assess at least one subject area (out of reading, writing and literature; mathematics; and natural sciences) in 20 countries and other participants. Computer-based uniform assessments, where all students complete a fixed set of assessment items, are far more common than computer-based adaptive assessments, where the difficulty of the tasks is adapted to students’ abilities. Computer-based uniform testing is used in 19 countries and other participants, whereas computer-based adaptive testing is used only in Australia (National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy), Denmark (only for non-compulsory assessment in natural sciences as well as in English and in Danish as a second language) and Scotland (United Kingdom) (for National Standardised Assessments). The use of computer-based technology in national/central assessments has increased significantly over the last eight years (Box D6.1 and also Table D6.3, available on line).
National/central assessments have evolved over time to cater for changing needs to evaluate students and accommodate technological developments. Two main changes have been observed in the 34 OECD countries and other participants with comparable data from the previous round of a similar survey in 2015 (OECD, 2015[4]).
Abolishment and introduction of national/central assessments
The number of countries and other participants with national/central assessments have increased during the last eight years, reflecting the trend towards monitoring standards and collecting diagnostic information to support achievement. A majority of countries that reported using national/central assessments in primary or secondary general education in 2015 continued to do so in 2023. On top of these, seven additional countries and other participants which did not have national/central assessments in 2015 reported they did in 2023.
Despite a general trend towards their increased use, national/central assessments were abolished in the French Community of Belgium (at lower secondary level) and New Zealand (at both primary and secondary levels). In New Zealand, the PaCT tool helped schools to assess students and report their performances against the National Standards (a system of standards which schools were required by legislation to report against). However, schools were able to choose the tools for assessing learners’ achievement and were only required to report simple outcome measures (e.g. the proportion of learners below, at, and above the standard). This information was published without additional measures such as the value added for learners. While the PaCT tool is still available for schools to use, the regulation to report against the National Standards was repealed.
A few countries also reported that they had reformed their national/central assessments since 2015 (e.g. Austria, Denmark, Israel and Spain). In Israel, for instance, growing concerns about the validity of the assessment results (e.g. schools adapting to the assessments) and their influence on the education system (e.g. the public misusing test scores to rank schools) led to the new national assessment programme placing more emphasis on non-academic areas such as school climate.
Assessing social and emotional skills in national/central assessments
Since 2015, most OECD countries have integrated social and emotional skills into their curricula, reflecting the broad consensus on their importance for individuals and societies (OECD, 2020[5]; 2023[6]; forthcoming[7]). However, based on information collected for the first time in 2023, assessing their development remains in its infancy, with only two countries (Colombia and Japan) collecting information on social and emotional skills as part of their national assessment. The contrast between the large number of countries that have integrated social and emotional skills into their national curricula and their limited inclusion in national/central assessments might reflect the challenges of effectively assessing social and emotional skills through a standardised assessment (OECD, forthcoming[7]).
Use of computer-based technology in national/central assessments
Both rounds of the survey collected data on the use of computer-based technology in national/central assessments in three subject areas: reading, writing and literature; mathematics; and natural sciences.
Between 2015 and 2023, the numbers using computer-based technology in national/central assessments in at least one level of education increased by 13 countries and other participants (from 8 in 2015 to 21 in 2023). The shift to use computer-based testing was notable particularly in the last five years (e.g. Canada and CEDRE in France from 2019, and Hungary and Korea from 2022) and in coming years (e.g. the French Community of Belgium, VERA in Germany), suggesting technological changes in both assessment mechanisms and the education system.
Source: Indicator D6 “What evaluation and assessment mechanisms are in place?”, OECD (2015[4]), Education at a Glance 2015: OECD Indicators.
Sharing the results of national/central assessments
The results of national/central assessments can be of interest not only to the highest level of education authorities, but also to other audiences such as school administrators, teachers, the students who participated in the assessments and their parents/guardians, as well as the media and the general public.
At lower secondary level, the results of national/central assessments are shared directly with external audiences in addition to education authorities in 31 out of the 32 countries and other participants. The exceptions are Germany (only the results of VERA is not shared) and Luxembourg (Table D6.5, available on line).
Students who took the assessments receive their own results in a letter/report format or through a closed website in 17 countries, while students in 13 countries and other participants do not receive their own results (Table D6.5, available on line).
Where students receive their own results, 6 countries only share their own results with them, while the other 11 countries share them together with aggregated results, usually at country/state level. Countries usually share directly the same results with students’ parents as they do with the students, and in the same manner, but parents in Estonia and Latvia receive their children’s results upon request (Table D6.5, available on line).
Among the countries and other participants where students do not receive their own results, eight do not share any results at all and five share some results with them, but only at an aggregated level, and they also do not share individual students’ results with their parents. This could be explained by the fact that in many countries the main purposes of national/central assessments include monitoring the education system (e.g. Canada, Germany, Greece, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United States) (Table D6.1 and Table D6.5, available on line).
School administrators and/or class teachers receive their students’ results, or at least the results aggregated at school level or by class, in most of the countries that share results with external audiences. However, school administrators and class teachers in Canada and Greece can access only the aggregated results at country/state and province/region levels through closed websites. In Korea, school administrators and class teachers only have access to aggregated results at country level through a closed website, while parents and students can only access the student’s own results and aggregated results by class through the website (Table D6.5, available on line).
Most countries disseminate the results of national/central assessments aggregated at country/state level through press releases to the media and make them available to the general public through a public website. However, in the Slovak Republic, aggregated results are only available upon request and Romania and Scotland (United Kingdom) do not share any results (Table D6.5, available on line).
Showing the overall performance for the most recent round of national/central assessment and/or comparisons of results with those of other groups of students (e.g. comparison by demographic characteristics, geographical regions and/or socio-economic level) are common features in nearly all the 30 countries and other participants sharing the results with external audiences. About half of the countries that share results report them alongside contextual information. The growth in individual student achievement over two or more years and other indicators of school quality are reported in less than one-third of the countries (Table D6.5, available on line).
Nearly all the 27 countries and other participants that share results with the media and general public do not provide school rankings based on the results of national/central assessments. Indeed, the government or education authorities take steps to prevent school ranking in 14 of these. In six of the countries that do not take preventive steps against them, the media or other outside groups produce and publish school rankings (Table D6.5, available on line).
Use of the results from national/central assessments
Evaluation of school performance is a common main purpose of national/central assessments. About two-fifths of the 32 countries and other participants report making moderate or high levels of use of the results of these assessments when evaluating school performance. In the Flemish Community of Belgium and Italy, although the education authorities do not use the results in the evaluation of school performance, they can be used in the self-evaluation that individual schools undertake. The results of national/central assessments are used for other evaluation activities such as evaluating school administration or individual teachers but to a smaller extent and in fewer countries than for evaluating school performance (Table D6.7, available on line).
Generally, the results of assessments are used only rarely for decisions about providing assistance to teachers to improve their teaching skills, teachers’ compensation, the size of school budget, the provision of other financial rewards or sanctions, or school closures. Where they are used for these sorts of purposes, they usually concern the provision of additional support for teachers or schools (e.g. Greece, Lithuania and Spain) or rewarding good performance (e.g. Chile and the Slovak Republic), rather than punitive measures (Table D6.7, available on line).
National/central examinations of students
National/central examinations evaluate students to determine whether they have successfully completed their current grade or level of education or for access to a higher grade or level. They usually take place in the final year (or during the final years) of a level of education. This is the case in all countries except the United States, where national/central examinations (in fact, state-wide examinations mandated under federal regulations) are administered in different grades depending on the jurisdiction (Table D6.2).
National/central examinations are more common at upper secondary level than lower levels of education. Across the 39 countries and other participants in this study, less than half have any national/central examinations at primary and lower secondary levels (3 at primary level and 14 at lower secondary level), but 34 have at least one at upper secondary level (in general programmes). This analysis therefore mainly focuses on national/central examinations in upper secondary general programmes (Figure D6.1).
In most of the 34 countries and other participants which have national/central examinations at upper secondary level, a student would only take one exam during their upper secondary studies. In Denmark, Lithuania, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, where students can enrol in different tracks at upper secondary level, there is one national/central examination for each track, and students would only take the applicable national/central examination for the track in which they are enrolled (Table D6.2).
Most countries consider a national/central examination as an event where all students would take the test only in their final grade. However, in Denmark, France, Israel, New Zealand and Scotland (United Kingdom), students participate in different sessions of the national/central examination over the course of two or three grades during their upper secondary education (Table D6.2; see Figure X3.D6.1 for an overview of the grades subject to upper secondary national/central examination).
Students may be required to take up to two types of national/central examinations in Greece and England (United Kingdom), as they serve different purposes. In Greece, students take partially centralised in-school examinations throughout upper secondary education in order to be promoted to the next grade, and the Panhellenic Examination in the final grade to get access to tertiary education. In England (United Kingdom), the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) taken at grade 11 promotes students to the next grade of general education, onto a different educational track or provides a minimum qualification for some roles in the labour market, while the Advanced level qualifications (A-levels) at the end of upper secondary education are used for entrance to tertiary education (Table D6.2).
Main purposes of national/central examinations
National/central examinations are used extensively for summative purposes (i.e. used for accountability), which aligns with the fact that they are conducted towards the end of upper secondary education. In about half of the countries and other participants with national/central examinations, they are only used for summative purposes and not for any formative purposes. In the rest, some use is made of national/central examinations for formative purposes, but to a lesser extent than for summative purposes. Germany is the only exception, using the examinations for neither summative nor formative purposes (Table D6.2).
In all countries, national/central examinations are intended to certify the completion of a grade or upper secondary education or to grant eligibility for tertiary education; in about three-quarters of them, they serve both purposes (Figure D6.4). National examinations in Chile, Colombia, Korea, Poland, Spain and Türkiye are only used for access to tertiary education, while the national examination in Costa Rica only serves to certify completion of upper secondary education. In the United States, national examinations do not grant eligibility for access to tertiary education, while their use for certifying grade completion varies across the country (Table D6.2).
The majority of countries and other participants using upper secondary national/central examinations to grant access to tertiary education also use them to select students within tertiary education, for example for selective access to tertiary institutions or to programmes, courses, tracks or fields of study at tertiary level (Figure D6.4). In Austria, the Czech Republic, the French Community of Belgium, Italy, Lithuania and the Netherlands, national/central examinations only grant access to tertiary education, and are not used as the basis for selection (see Indicator D6 of Education at a Glance 2018 (OECD, 2018[8]) for more information on the use of national/central examinations as admission criteria to tertiary institutions).
National/central examinations also serve other purposes. Nine countries consider the results of national examinations to some extent in deciding whether to grant students scholarships or financial assistance when they progress to tertiary education. Promotion to higher grades in upper secondary education is only applicable in the seven countries and other participants where national/central examinations take place over multiple grades. A student can be expelled from upper secondary education institutions in Germany based on national examination results, but this is only in exceptional cases where a student does not pass the examination for a second time (Figure D6.4).
Organisation of national/central examinations
In most countries, students are required to take national/central examinations at upper secondary level in order to graduate from upper secondary education or to enter into tertiary education. However, it may not necessarily be compulsory for all educational institutions to administer these examinations, nor for all students to take them.
Only six countries or other participants do not require public educational institutions to administer the national/central examinations. In Israel, New Zealand and Scotland (United Kingdom), even though public educational institutions are not required to administer these examinations, they count towards graduation from upper secondary education and more than three-quarters of institutions do administer them. In Korea and Türkiye, most public institutions administer the national examination because students may be required to pass it to access tertiary education, even though it is not needed to graduate from upper secondary education. In Chile, the examination is administered by a non-school entity and public educational institutions only provide the venue for it (Table D6.2).
In most countries and other participants where public educational institutions are required to administer these examinations, so too are government-dependent private educational institutions. However, in Croatia, Denmark, England (United Kingdom), France and Romania, government-dependent private institutions are not always required to administer these examinations even though public ones are. When government-dependent private institutions are not required to administer national/central examinations, a similar or slightly smaller share of them do so compared to public institutions. In France, government-dependent private institutions administer the examination when solicited according to need, so that all candidates of the national examination have access to an examination centre. (Table D6.2).
About two-thirds of the countries require all upper secondary students to take the national/central examinations with a few of them allowing exemptions in specific cases. However, in Colombia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg and the United States, national examinations are typically adapted to the needs of some groups of students (e.g. students with special education needs) rather than exempting them from the examination. In Denmark and Romania, students in certain types of schools are exempt from national examinations, but these students make up a very small share of the total (Table D6.2).
In 11 countries and other participants, students take the national/central examination on a voluntary basis. This happens either because national/central examinations only target students who wish to enter tertiary education (Chile, the Panhellenic Examination in Greece, Korea, Poland, Scotland [United Kingdom], Spain and Türkiye) or because it is not mandatory for students to take the examination at the end of their upper secondary studies (England [United Kingdom], Ireland, Israel and New Zealand) (Table D6.2).
National/central examinations at upper secondary level are standardised and mainly developed at the central level (by central-level authorities and/or agencies responsible for assessment or certification) in all countries except Australia, Germany, Spain and the United States, where they are standardised at state level. In Chile, responsibility for the development of examinations is entirely devolved to a department of national university created for this purpose (Table D6.2).
In seven countries and other participants, the central-level authorities or agencies responsible collaborate with other entities to develop the national/central examinations. For example, in Denmark, Greece (for its in-school exams through the national test item bank) and Italy, schools and the teachers of students taking examinations also contribute to the development of national examinations. This results from the fact that some parts of national examinations (e.g. oral examinations) are developed at school level or by teachers of the subjects tested (Table D6.2).
National/central examinations in two-fifths of the countries are marked and graded by the same entities that developed them. These are usually central or state-level authorities and/or agencies responsible for assessment or certification. However, in contrast to the development of national/central examinations, in the other three-fifths of countries, responsibility for marking and grading them is either shared with or delegated to lower levels of authorities (e.g. regional, sub-regional and local levels), schools and teachers. In particular, marking involves the students’ own teachers in 14 countries and other participants, other teachers in the students’ school in 8, and teachers in different schools in 10 (Table D6.2).
Among the 17 countries and other participants where marking is done by teachers from students’ schools or other schools, 14 countries and other participants provide national guidance materials (e.g. performance criteria, rubrics and exemplars) to ensure the reliability of marking, while 7 use moderation (i.e. more than one person marking). The exceptions are Finland, Greece (only for in-school exams through the national test item bank) and Italy. In Finland, marking is harmonised by a central agency after a preliminary marking by teachers. In Italy, there is no central mechanism as marking is the responsibility of the exam commission of each school, which mostly consists of members external to the school to ensure marking is impartial (Table D6.2).
Content of national/central examinations
The number of subject areas tested in national/central examinations varies greatly across countries. For example, students are only tested in two to five compulsory subject areas and no optional subjects in Colombia, Costa Rica, Estonia and the French Community of Belgium. At the opposite extreme, students choose from a wide variety of subjects and there are no compulsory subjects in England (United Kingdom) (only for A-levels), New Zealand, Scotland (United Kingdom) and Türkiye (Table D6.4, available on line).
There is at least one common compulsory subject area in national/central examinations in 30 countries and other participants. Reading, writing and literature is compulsory in almost all of these except Korea, where only Korean history is compulsory. Mathematics and at least one foreign language are also widely tested as compulsory subjects: in 18 countries and other participants for mathematics and 13 for foreign languages (Table D6.4, available on line).
Students can choose to take tests in one or more subject area in addition to the compulsory ones in 25 countries and other participants. Natural sciences, social sciences, information and communication technologies (ICT), and arts are the four subject areas that are offered as optional in most cases. Natural sciences and social sciences are both offered in more than four-fifths of 25 countries and other participants, and ICT and arts in about two-thirds (Table D6.4, available on line).
In a few countries, students do not have a choice over the non-compulsory subjects. In Denmark, examinations in non-compulsory subjects are drawn at random. In Italy and Romania, students in specific academic programmes are required to be tested in mathematics (Table D6.4, available on line).
Computer-based examination is not widely implemented in national/central examinations. Eight countries use computer-based uniform technology for at least one the following subjects: reading, writing and literature; mathematics; and natural sciences. Mathematics is the subject most often tested using a digital platform (7 countries), followed by natural sciences (5) and reading, writing and literature (4) (Table D6.4, available on line).
Computer-based examinations could be helpful for marking national/central examinations, if they mostly consist of multiple choice questions. However, national/central examinations often include more than one type of task – such as writing tasks and oral examinations – making it difficult to mark those questions automatically with the current level of computer-based technology (see Box D6.2 for comparisons between national/central assessments and national/central examinations on their reference standards for marking and format).
Type of evaluation and reference standards
Among the 39 countries and other participants with data, national/central assessments and examinations are usually criterion-referenced tests (i.e. they assess the extent to which students have reached the reference standard, and the results are often provided on an absolute scale or pass/fail). For example, at lower secondary level, about three-quarters of the national/central assessments are criterion-referenced tests. The share is similar for other levels of education and for national/central examinations (Table D6.1 and Table D6.2).
Norm-referenced tests (i.e. ones that assess the extent to which students compare with other students in the test, with the results are often shown in relative terms such as percentile rank) are not common among national/central assessments or examinations. However, norm-referenced tests may be chosen by countries where the purposes of evaluation include the selection of students based on their merits. For example, at upper secondary level, nine countries refer to the results of national examinations to make decisions about scholarships or financial assistance for students, of which five have norm-referenced national examinations (Table D6.1 and Table D6.2).
Two main types of reference standards are used for marking national/central assessments and examinations: national curriculum goals and national standards. National standards describe what students should know and should be able to do, and present more specific criteria than national curriculum goals, which typically define overarching learning objectives and provide broad guidelines.
Generally, national/central curriculum goals are more widely used than national/central standards as references when marking national/central assessments and examinations. For example, about 60% of the countries and other participants use national/central curriculum goals in national/central assessments at lower secondary level, whereas around 30% use national/central standards and the rest use other types of reference standards. The findings for national/central assessments at other levels of education and for national/central examinations at upper secondary level are similar (Tables D6.3 and D6.4, available online).
However, the prevalence of reference standards used for marking can vary for different types of tests. For instance, national/central standards are used for marking upper secondary national/central examinations on reading, writing and literature in nearly half of the countries where the examination is criterion-referenced, but only in 1 out of 11 cases where it is norm-referenced. No generalisation can be made as the national/central curriculum goals of some countries can be as detailed as the national/central standards of others, but it might be suggested that countries and other participants with criterion-referenced tests would use national/central standards, which describe in detail what is expected from students, in preference to national/central curriculum goals (Table D6.2 and Table D6.4, available online).
Format and types of tasks given
There are notable differences in the types of tasks requested from students in national/central assessments and examinations across the countries and other participants with available data.
National/central assessments at primary and secondary levels always include multiple choice questions. The majority also used closed-format short answer questions and open-ended writing tasks, although smaller proportions of countries use open-ended writing tasks in national/central assessments at primary level than at lower and upper secondary levels (Figure D6.5).
In contrast, national/central examinations are based on a more balanced mix of the three most prevalent types of tasks and they do not always use multiple choice questions. At upper secondary level, for example, national/central examinations in France, the French Community of Belgium, Germany and New Zealand do not use multiple choice questions. Examinations also make more use of other types of tasks (e.g. portfolios, performing a task/experiment, oral presentations, and oral questions and answers) than national/central assessments (Figure D6.5 and Table D6.2).
Different tasks are used to evaluate students, depending on the nature of the subject area. For instance, oral presentations are used to evaluate reading, writing and literature in about one-third of countries with upper secondary national/central examinations but they are rarely used in natural sciences. Instead, about one-third of countries examining students in that subject ask them to perform a task or experiment (Table D6.4, available on line).
Sharing the results of national/central examinations
The results of upper secondary national/central examinations are shared with an external audience (in addition to the top-level education authorities) in 33 out of 34 countries and other participants. In Australia, the sharing of results varies between states and jurisdictions (Table D6.6, available on line).
All 33 countries and other participants give students their own results from national/central examinations, but how they are shared and what is shared differs. Twelve countries provide additional information on the results, such as aggregated results for the whole country, by region or by educational institution (Figure D6.6 and Table D6.6, available on line).
Parents do not have access to their children’s results in 14 countries and other participants, and have access only upon request in 7 countries. Parents are not automatically granted access to students’ results in these countries and other participants because the students are 18 years old (legal adults in most countries) by the time they take upper secondary national/central examinations (Table D6.6, available on line).
School administrators are granted direct access to their students’ results in 28 countries and other participants and teachers have access in 18. Aggregated results (at country/state, province/region, school level etc.) are available to both school administrators and teachers in a majority of the countries that share results with them. For example, school administrators can directly access the aggregated results for their own school in more than four-fifths of the countries (Figure D6.6 and Table D6.6, available on line).
Although there are 11 countries where teachers cannot directly access their students’ results, they are still shared with them to some extent by school administrators. In Israel, for instance, school principals have direct access to both individuals’ results and aggregated results at country or local level, whereas teachers do not. However, school principals often share the information with their teachers for formative purposes. In the Czech Republic, it is up to school heads to share the results of individual students with their teachers (Figure D6.6 and Table D6.6, available on line).
Education authorities provide results directly to the general public and the media in 27 of the 33 countries and other participants that share the results of upper secondary national/central examinations externally. The results are available through publicly accessible websites in nearly three-quarters of the countries and press releases for the media and/or reports are prepared in about two-fifths of them. Aggregated results, at the country or state level, are directly shared with the public in all countries except Italy, where only the aggregated results by schools are published on line. In Italy, it is not possible to aggregate the results by regions because the marking criteria are set at the individual school level (Figure D6.6 and Table D6.6, available on line).
In all 33 countries and other participants that share results externally, the government or education authorities do not use school rankings when reporting the results. However, less than one-third of them prevent the media or external groups from ranking schools. Consequently, media or other outside groups prepare school rankings in about three-fifths of the countries. In six countries and other participants, rankings are prepared even though aggregated results by schools are not publicly available (Table D6.6, available on line).
The level of performance for the most recent year is the most widely used information when reporting results (in all 33 countries and other participants except Italy). Comparisons between groups of students are also reported in almost three-fifths of the countries, frequently the national average. In the Czech Republic, Korea and Poland, students receive relative scores (e.g. percentiles or standardised scores) (Table D6.6, available on line).
Other types of information are seldom used when reporting results. For example, only around one-fifth of countries and other participants include contextual factors that affect the results or other indicators of school quality alongside the results of national/central examinations. Growth in student achievement over two or more years can be reported in England (United Kingdom), Israel and Scotland (United Kingdom), as national/central examinations allow individual students to be tracked through different years (Table D6.6, available on line).
Use of the results of national/central examinations
Students’ performance in national/central examinations not only have consequences for themselves, but may also affect evaluations and decisions made by education authorities. For example, the results of upper secondary national/central examinations are used to apply sanctions or rewards to educational institutions by the education authorities in eight countries and other participants. In Colombia, education authorities use them to provide incentives to schools, for example, through funding to support underperforming schools (Table D6.6, available on line).
The results of national/central examinations are used to a great extent in the evaluation of school performance in nearly one-third of countries and to a moderate or limited extent in another one-third. The results have less influence over other types of evaluations: they are not used in the evaluation of school administrations in nearly half of countries nor in the evaluation of individual teachers in about half of them (Table D6.8, available on line).
Education authorities may use the results of national/central examinations in decisions about providing assistance to teachers to improve their teaching skills in about one-quarter of the countries. However, the level of influence these results have over these decisions is moderate or low in these countries (Table D6.8, available on line).
In contrast, the results of national/central examinations have generally no influence over decisions on financial resources (e.g. school budgets, teachers’ remuneration or financial rewards) or school closure across countries. For example, at most three countries reported that examination results have some influence over each of the following decisions: the size of the school budget, provision of other financial rewards or sanctions, teachers’ remuneration and bonuses, and school closures (Table D6.8, available on line).
National/central assessments are based on standardised student achievement tests. The results of national/central assessments do not have an impact on students’ progression through school or certification.
National/central examinations are standardised student tests that have a formal consequence for students, such as an impact on a student’s eligibility to progress to a higher level of education or to complete an officially recognised degree.
Formative evaluation is primarily intended to provide feedback for improvement. An example could be student diagnostic tests where the results of the tests can be used by teachers to improve learning experience for their students.
Summative evaluation is primarily used for accountability and seeks to determine whether the object of the evaluation is doing what it is supposed to do. National examinations are an example of summative evaluation because they are primarily used to judge the amount of learning students have gained over a period of their studies.
Computer-based adaptive technology tests refer to computer-based tests that adapt the level of difficulty of the tasks to the student’s ability level. For example, if a student performs well on an item of intermediate difficulty, s/he will subsequently be presented with a more difficult question.
Computer-based uniform technology tests refer to computer-based tests with a fixed set of test items for all students taking a test.
Criterion-referenced test assesses the extent to which students have reached the given standard. The standards refer to goals of a particular area of common or national curriculum. The results are typically reported as cut scores which represent a passing score or a passing point, or as proficiency at certain levels.
Norm-referenced test is recognised by the fact that the results for students provide an estimate of the position of the tested individual in a predefined population. The word “normative” or “norm” refers to the fact that each test-taker is compared to his/her peers. The typical outcome measure that is used to report student results is a percentile rank, which illustrates how many of the student’s peers scored below or above them.
National curriculum goals typically describe overarching learning objectives for the education system and explain the underlying values and culture that should shape teaching and learning. While some describe the teaching content, methods, materials and assessment criteria to be applied in different subjects and year levels, others establish broad guidelines, leaving room for local authorities and schools to decide upon more specific goals, content and methods.
National standards refer to descriptions of what students should know (i.e. content standards) and be able to do (i.e. performance standards) at different stages of the learning process. Standards may be set out in a separate document or may be embedded in the curriculum.
National learning progressions describe the way students typically move through learning in different subject areas. They can provide a roadmap for teachers to identify the set of skills and knowledge students must master on the way to becoming competent in more complex curriculum outcomes.
Please see Indicator D1 for definitions on the subject areas (study areas).
Thirty-nine OECD, partner and accession countries and other participants contributed to the 2022 OECD-INES-NESLI survey on examinations and assessments of students: Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, England (United Kingdom), Estonia, Finland, France, the Flemish and French Communities of Belgium, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Scotland (United Kingdom), the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United States.
For country-specific notes, see Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes (OECD, 2023[3]).
Data are from the 2022 OECD-INES-NESLI survey on examinations and assessments of students and refer to the school year 2022/23 (or 2023).
References
[3] OECD (2023), Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/d7f76adc-en.
[6] OECD (2023), “Schools as hubs for social and emotional learning: Are schools and teachers ready?”, OECD Education Spotlights, No. 4, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/f6d12db7-en.
[5] OECD (2020), Curriculum Overload: A Way Forward, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/3081ceca-en.
[2] OECD (2019), Education at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/f8d7880d-en.
[8] OECD (2018), Education at a Glance 2018: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/eag-2018-en.
[4] OECD (2015), Education at a Glance 2015: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/eag-2015-en.
[1] OECD (2013), Synergies for Better Learning: An International Perspective on Evaluation and Assessment, OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264190658-en.
[9] OECD (2011), Education at a Glance 2011: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/eag-2011-en.
[7] OECD (forthcoming), Documenting, recognising, and assessing social and emotional skills in upper secondary education, OECD Publishing.
Cut-off date for the data: 15 June 2023. Any updates on data can be found on line at https://doi.org/10.1787/eag-data-en.
Table D6.1. National/central assessments (2023) |
|---|
In lower secondary general programmes |
 |
Note: See StatLink and Box D6.3 for the notes related to this Table. |
Source: OECD (2023). For more information see Source section and Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes (OECD, 2023[3]). |
Table D6.2. National/central examinations (2023) |
|---|
In upper secondary general programmes |
 |
Note: See StatLink and Box D6.3 for the notes related to this Table. |
Source: OECD (2023). For more information see Source section and Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes (OECD, 2023[3]). |
Table D6.1. National/central assessments (2023)
Data on primary and upper secondary general programmes, and by grade are available on line. Columns with other information on the assessments including names; when they were established and last administered; the extent of use for formative and summative purposes; bodies responsible for standardisation, development and grading/marking; the type and format of assessments; requirement for schools to administer them; student exemptions; reliability of marking across students; and schools' influence or control over assessments (Columns 2, 3, 5, 6 and 18 to 31) are available on line (see StatLink below).
1. The frequency of each subject included in an assessment and the periodicity of this assessment can differ. In the subjects of assessments, others include other various subjects, which can be found in Table D6.3 (web only).
Table D6.2. National/central examinations (2023)
Data on primary and lower secondary general programmes, and by grade are available on line. Columns with other information on the examinations including their names; when they were established; the extent they are used for formative and summative purposes; bodies responsible for standardisation, development and grading/marking; the type and format of examinations; requirements for schools to administer them; student exemptions; reliability of marking across students; and schools' influence or control over them (Columns 2 to 4 and 16 to 29) are available on line (see StatLink below).
See Definitions and Methodology sections and for more information see Source section and Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes (OECD, 2023[3]).
Please refer to the Reader's Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations.