Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2026

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is an international comparative study of the reading literacy of students around 10 years of age.

PIRLS focuses on three aspects of reading literacy:

• How students read different types of texts (broadly, fiction and non-fiction)
• What kinds of reading comprehension processes students use to understand those texts
• What attitudes students have towards reading

PIRLS allows for comparisons of performance between education systems (usually different countries) as well as comparisons of performance over time, with each iteration of the study being conducted every five years.

Pearson is responsible for the overall delivery of PIRLS 2026 in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The University of Oxford research team is leading on the analysis of data, national report writing and dissemination for England, Northern Ireland and Wales.