What information will be collected and why?

Pearson UK and their partners at Oxford University have been commissioned to carry out the PIRLS 2021 study in England on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE). The privacy and data security of the young people and schools we work with is very important to us and no individual pupil, parent, carer or school will be identified or identifiable in any reporting. 

The purpose of the study is to produce statistics on children’s learning and development, in order to learn more about how best to support children in learning to read.  We will collect information on what your child has learnt about reading from their answers to the PIRLS assessment questions. We will also ask them contextual information, such as questions about their home life and interest in reading. All data from the study will be anonymised and combined with responses from other pupils taking part in England and compared with results of pupils around the world. If there are any questions your child does not wish to answer they may leave them blank.

Here are examples of the type of questions which are included in the PIRLS study and the context questionnaires for pupils, teachers and schools.

How we use personal data

For the purposes of this research, the Department for Education (DfE)  and its approved contractors will link the information to other information the DfE already holds (such as on the National Pupil Database) or that it is lawfully permitted to access from other sources.  This is to avoid repeatedly asking participants to give us information that we already hold and to enable analysis of the longer-term benefits of early learning.  Full privacy notices are available using the links below.

We would like to thank you all participating schools and pupils for their participation in this important project.  If you have any queries on any aspect the study, please do not hesitate to contact the PIRLS Support Team.

Full privacy notices:

You can view the Department for Education’s Privacy Notice for PIRLS 2021 for teachers and headteachers here.

You can view the Department for Education’s Privacy Notice for PIRLS 2021 for pupils here.

You can view the Department for Education’s Privacy Notice for PIRLS 2021 for parents here.