The PISA of the Catalonia that does not exist: despite the error in the sample, it only goes up 5 points in mathematics

BarcelonaBoth the OECD, the Ministry of Education, the Department of Education, and the Evaluation Agency have made it clear that after the error in the test sample, the results for Catalonia in the PISA report are neither analyzable nor comparable with other territories and other editions. Catalonia excluded more students than permitted (23%, when the maximum is 5%) due to physical, cognitive, and emotional disabilities or lack of language proficiency, and this caused the OECD to exclude it from the global report. The same did not happen with Murcia, which also exceeded the limit by excluding 13% of students, but which the economic organization decided to keep in the report while warning of possible biases with an asterisk.

However, in the Spanish report, the data for this invented Catalonia can indeed be broken down. The surprise, however, is that unlike what many expected, the results do not skyrocket drastically, although they do exceed the Spanish and OECD averages.

In mathematics, Catalonia has obtained 474 points. That is five points more than what Catalan students obtained in the 2022 report. Even so, the Catalan results remain below those of Madrid, which leads the state ranking with 477 points, and they exceed Castile and León (472) by only two points and Cantabria (470) by four. It also remains ahead of the Spanish average (457) and that of the European Union and the OECD (both with 463 points). Nevertheless, this unreal Catalonia would still remain very far from the international top 5, which ranges from 488 points in the United Kingdom to 525 in Japan. To explain the mess in Catalonia, the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has already requested to appear before Parliament on September 23.

Beyond Catalonia, the communities with the worst results in mathematics in this edition of PISA –excluding Ceuta and Melilla– are the Valencian Community (435), Andalusia (442), and the Canary Islands (442).

At the forefront of reading and science

Where this Catalonia with 23% fewer students would indeed occupy the first position in Spain is in reading comprehension, though only by a little. Catalonia obtains 473 points, two more than Asturias, which heads the list for the State, and four more than Madrid (469), which is in second position. Catalan students would also remain above the European average (459) and that of the OECD (461). However, at an international level, Catalonia would remain outside the top 10, which Japan leads with 503 points and Poland closes with 482.

At the state level, the autonomous community with the worst level of reading comprehension is the Basque Country (419 points), followed by the Valencian Community (424) and Navarre (441).

Finally, in science, the false Catalonia would soar to 502 points, surpassing Madrid by seven, which once again heads the state ranking in this subject with 495 points. In fact, in this competence, seven communities exceed the OECD average (482), the European one (481), and the Spanish one (477).

Once again, the last positions in the OECD ranking in the State are occupied by the Valencian Community (450), the Basque Country (459), and Andalusia (462).