Ireland is one of about 60 participants – countries or benchmarking entities (e.g., regions of countries) – in PIRLS 2026. This cycle of PIRLS completes the transition to a fully digital assessment, integrating ‘class projects’ which were previously known as ePIRLS interactive tasks, as well as more traditional literacy texts. The PIRLS 2026 digital reading assessment will offer pupils an engaging, visually appealing, and interactive reading assessment experience. Pupils in over 150 schools in Ireland will complete the PIRLS 2026 assessment on computer.

As PIRLS 2026 marks Ireland’s transition from paper-based to digital testing, a national mode effect study will also be carried out. This will allow us to examine the extent to which any differences in pupil reading achievement exist between digital and paper testing. Pupils in up to 50 schools in Ireland will complete the PIRLS 2026 assessment on paper. A field trial for PIRLS 2026 took place in Ireland in 40 schools in Spring 2025.

A key purpose of PIRLS is to provide contextual information that can be used to improve teaching and learning. Thus, PIRLS collects detailed information about the curriculum and its implementation, instructional practices and school resources. Questionnaire data are gathered from school principals and Fourth class teachers in participating schools, from pupils themselves and from their parents/guardians. The information collected through these questionnaires is used to provide a more complete picture of the experiences of pupils in the Irish education system. For example, it allows us to answer questions such as ‘do Fourth class pupils who say that they enjoy their reading lessons in school tend to have higher scores in reading?’