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PIRLS 2021 International Database


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The PIRLS 2021 International Database is available to researchers, analysts, and any individuals interested in the data collected and analyzed as part of PIRLS 2021. The database includes student achievement data as well as student, home, teacher, school, and national context data for 57 countries and 8 benchmarking participants. PIRLS 2021 is the fifth assessment cycle of PIRLS since 2001, providing 20 years of trends in reading achievement at the fourth grade.

PIRLS 2021 is the only international assessment of educational achievement at the fourth grade that successfully collected data during COVID-19’s disruption in students’ schooling. Consequently, the PIRLS 2021 International Database provides an extremely rich and valuable data source to research the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning reading.

The entire database and its supporting documents are described in the PIRLS 2021 User Guide for the International Database, 2nd Edition (Fishbein et al., 2024) and its three supplements. The data can be analyzed using the downloadable IEA IDB Analyzer (Version 5.0), an application developed by IEA Hamburg to facilitate the analysis of PIRLS data.

Because of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the PIRLS 2021 data collection, users should consult the User Guide, and other PIRLS 2021 publications cited in the User Guide, for important caveats in analyzing and interpreting the data.

The public use version of the database is provided below along with supporting documentation. A restricted use version of the PIRLS 2021 International Database is available to users who require access to variables removed from the public use version (see Chapter 2 of the User Guide). Users who require access to the restricted use version to conduct their analyses should contact the IEA through its Study Data Repository.

PIRLS 2021 International Database Downloads*

User Guide

Achievement Items Documentation

Item Information
IRT Item Parameters
Item Percent Correct Statistics

International Database


* As of February 28, 2024, the PIRLS 2021 International Database includes student process data files.

See User Guide, 2nd Edition for more information.

TIMSS and PIRLS are registered trademarks of IEA. Use of these trademarks without permission of IEA by others may constitute trademark infringement. Furthermore, the website and its contents, together with all online and/or printed TIMSS and PIRLS publications and restricted use items and text by IEA and TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College, are and will remain the copyright of IEA.

All TIMSS and PIRLS publications and restricted use items/texts by IEA and TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, as well as translations thereof, are for non-commercial, educational, and research purposes only. When using IEA data sources for assessment or learning materials, prior permission is required. IEA reserves the right to refuse copy deemed inappropriate or not properly sourced.

Commercial exploitation, distribution, redistribution, reproduction and/or transmission in any form or by any means, including electronic or mechanical methods such as photocopying, information storage and retrieval system of these publications, restricted use items/texts, translations thereof and/or part thereof are prohibited unless written permission has been provided by IEA.

When quoting and/or citing from one or more publications and/or restricted use items/texts from IEA and TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center for the sake of educational or research purposes, please include an acknowledgment of the source, including the year and name of that publication and/or restricted use item/text. Please use the following acknowledgment as an example:

SOURCE: IEA’s Progress in International Reading Literacy Study – PIRLS 2021 Copyright © 2023 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Publisher: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College.

Please note that citing without naming the source can or will constitute plagiarism for which you can and will be held accountable.

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Disclaimer

Please note that the website and its contents, together with all online and/or printed publications and restricted use items/texts (“works”) by IEA and TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, were created with the utmost care. However, the correctness of the information cannot be guaranteed at all times and IEA cannot and will not be held responsible or liable for any damages that may arise from the use of these resources, nor will IEA be liable for the wrongful use and/or interpretation of its works.

Please be advised that IEA cannot authorize the use of texts or items that include third- party copyrighted materials (e.g., reading passages, photographs, images). Users of any third-party copyrighted materials must first seek and be granted copyright permission from the owner of the content as indicated in the copyright citation line.

Use of IEA and TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center publications and/or restricted items/texts for research and educational purposes does not imply endorsement by IEA and TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center of any stage of the research, including verbal and written reporting of it, or of the educational program using the items.