Wales has consistently had lower results on average in reading, maths and science than in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland in the PISA assessments.
The Welsh government has made it one of its top priorities to improve its performance and has met with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which administers PISA, to get advice on how it can do better.
Wales education secretary Kirsty Williams has commissioned the OECD to look at the strategies the Welsh government has put in place since the last report, and to assess whether the education reforms are “on track”.
The OECD will then give feedback on the appropriateness of the strategies and the progress made with them.
PISA 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.
“I believe in following international evidence,” Ms Williams said. “That is why I have asked the OECD to look at our reforms and to report back on whether we are on the right track and that we are making the right levels of progress.
For well over a decade, the OECD has been at the forefront of providing the very best international evidence available. That’s why I recently took the opportunity to visit their headquarters.
“My meetings with Andreas Schleicher (the OECD’s director of education and skills) and others, reinforced why we absolutely must focus on giving our young people meaningful skills for life, including digital of course.
“It is not good enough to limit our ambitions to simply looking across the border, we must strive to be up there with the best in the world. We must provide all pupils with the skills and knowledge, ambition, confidence and qualifications for individual and national success. PISA may divide opinion, but it is the recognised international benchmark for skills.”