The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assesses the reading literacy of primary school pupils in participating countries worldwide. Ireland has participated in three cycles of PIRLS to date—in 2011, 2016, and 2021—with the Educational Research Centre (ERC) administering the study on behalf of the Department of Education.

This report draws on data from PIRLS 2021. PIRLS was one of two large-scale assessments conducted in primary schools in Ireland in 2021, the other being the National Assessments of
Mathematics and English Reading (NAMER). Together, PIRLS and NAMER data provide valuable insights about primary school pupils’ achievement and experiences following the disruptions
to education caused by COVID-19 within the Irish context, while findings across PIRLS countries further contextualise these outcomes on a global scale.

Findings in this report build on those reported in the PIRLS 2021 national report by Delaney et al. (2023). Readers may find it useful to also consult the international PIRLS 2021 report (Mullis
et al., 2023), the PIRLS 2021 Encyclopedia (Reynolds et al., 2022), as well as the NAMER 2021 performance report (Kiniry et al., 2023) and the NAMER 2021 report on DEIS schools (Nelis &
Gilleece, 2023).