Unpublished data provided to Save Our Schools by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that nearly four in five Australian students did not fully try in the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
The figures show wide differences in student effort between countries, which call into question the validity of country rankings of PISA results.

Even more importantly, the high proportion of students in Australia and many other countries not fully trying in PISA indicates a broader problem, namely increasing student disaffection with learning and school.

This appears to be a crucial factor behind declining results in many OECD countries that is often ignored in the commentary on Australia’s PISA results.

The new figures show that 77 per cent of Australian students didn’t fully try in PISA 2022.

This was the equal fourth highest proportion in the OECD.

It was also the equal fourth highest of the 81 countries and regions participating in the tests. Only Denmark (81 per cent), Sweden (80 per cent), Germany (80 per cent), Switzerland (80 per cent) and Belgium (78 per cent) had a higher proportion of students who did not fully try. Norway, UK, Austria and Singapore had the same proportion as Australia. The average for the OECD was 71 per cent. Türkiye had the lowest proportion (47 per cent) amongst OECD countries.

On an effort scale of one-to-10, Australian students reported an effort of 7.2 on the PISA test. They reported that they would have put in an effort of “nine” had the test counted towards their marks.

The proportion of Australian students not fully trying increased by four percentage points from PISA 2018. This was higher than the average increase in the OECD of three points.

Interestingly, a much larger proportion of Australian female students than male students did not fully try in PISA 2022.

Some 81 per cent of female students did not fully try compared to 71 per cent of male students. More female than male students did not fully try in most OECD countries.

The OECD acknowledged that many students view PISA as a low-stakes assessment that has no consequence for their future education. As a result, there is no incentive to put in full effort.

Many studies show that students do not perform as well in regular low-stakes tests as when they participate in tests that count towards their grade.

Both PISA 2018 and PISA 2022 show large variations between countries in the proportion of students not fully trying.

In PISA 2018, the range between the highest and lowest proportions in the OECD was 43 percentage points and in PISA 2022 it was 34 points. While the percentage increased in most OECD countries, it also declined in some.

Variations between countries in the proportion of students not fully trying raises question about the validity of international comparisons of student achievement based on PISA.

Less effort in tests leads to lower results and differences in rankings may be influenced by differences in student effort.

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