A major error in Catalonia's PISA test sampling has blocked comparison with previous years. The government blames technical confusion, while opposition parties demand accountability. Schools express frustration over being singled out.
A critical misstep in Catalonia's handling of the PISA educational assessment has triggered political fallout and left the region unable to compare its student performance with previous years or other territories. The Catalan Education Department, led by Esther Niubó (PSC), is under intense scrutiny after it was revealed that the proportion of students exempted from the 2025 PISA test reached 23.2%—far above the 5% threshold set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCDE). This breach means Catalonia's results are now considered statistically invalid for international benchmarking.
Niubó addressed the issue in an urgent session at the Catalan Parliament, stating that an internal investigation is ongoing. She suggested that the overlap of two major assessments—the PISA test and the Generalitat's own end-of-stage exams for 4th-year ESO students—may have caused confusion in schools about exemption criteria. According to Niubó, this confusion led to a much higher rate of student exemptions than allowed, undermining the integrity of the sample.
Opposition parties, including Junts per Catalunya, PP, Vox, and Aliança Catalana, have seized on the incident, calling for Niubó's resignation and accusing her of deflecting blame onto schools instead of accepting responsibility for a failure that disrupts the historical data series. They argue that the problem reflects not just a technical glitch but a deeper lack of internal oversight and political leadership. School administrators have also voiced anger at being implicated, with the Associació de Directius de l’Educació Pública de Catalunya highlighting failures in the supervision mechanisms rather than at the school level.
In response to the crisis, the Education Department has begun implementing corrective measures. These include establishing clear, detailed protocols for each assessment process, setting up alert thresholds for sampling issues, and centralizing the validation of student exemptions. Niubó reported that these new procedures have already reduced exemption rates to 6% in other recent tests. Additionally, a new Commission for the Coordination of Tests and Evaluation Studies has been created to oversee all educational assessments in Catalonia. The official order establishing this commission, published last Friday, prompted the government to publicly address the PISA issue.
During the parliamentary session, Niubó emphasized that the investigation is not yet complete and that all necessary responsibilities will be determined once the facts are clear. She also clarified that, at the time the OCDE notified the Generalitat in March, the only information provided was that methodological requirements had not been met—without specifying the full impact on the historical data series or the September publication of results. The opposition, however, remains unconvinced, with some members questioning whether other government officials, such as the Presidency Councillor Albert Dalmau, should also be held accountable, especially since Niubó was on medical leave when the issue came to light.
The controversy comes at a sensitive time for the Catalan government, which had previously criticized its predecessor for poor PISA results in 2022. Back then, the Generalitat initially blamed the outcome on an overrepresentation of immigrant students in the sample, a claim it later retracted. This history has not been forgotten by opposition parties, who point to a pattern of management failures within the Education Department. The situation has also reignited debate over the reliability of educational assessments and the need for robust oversight, echoing concerns raised in other recent political disputes in Catalonia. For further context on how Catalan officials have challenged institutional decisions in the past, see this related report on legal appeals by regional leaders: Catalan leaders' legal challenge against the Tribunal de Cuentas.
PISA, coordinated by the OCDE, is a triennial international assessment measuring 15-year-olds' abilities in reading, mathematics, and science. Its strict protocols are designed to ensure comparability across countries and regions. The Catalan case highlights the importance of adhering to these standards, as deviations can undermine both local and international confidence in the results. The incident also underscores the broader challenges facing Spain's education system, where regional autonomy sometimes complicates the implementation of national and international benchmarks. As the investigation continues, the outcome may influence future policy on educational assessments not only in Catalonia but across Spain.
