Learning beyond fifteen: 10 years after PISA

Skills are key to economic and social prosperity. Understanding how skills develop over time is therefore critical for all countries. Learning beyond Fifteen focuses on the development of reading proficiency during the transition from adolescence to early adulthood. It explores the results of a unique study in Canada that combines PISA data with a follow-up survey, the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS), and a reassessment of reading skills nine years after students took the PISA test. The results show large improvements in reading proficiency among all Canadian youth between the ages of 15 and 24. This evidence highlights the importance of flexibility in educational systems. A second chance to continue their education allows even those students who performed poorly at age 15 to acquire the skills they need to succeed in the workplace.