Swedish government gets Pisa results four days early despite internal criticism

Four days before Sweden publicly releases its new Pisa results, the Government Offices will be briefed on the figures. The decision has triggered internal protests at the National Agency for Education, Skolverket, because the information could carry political weight during the final days of the 2026 election campaign.

Officials at the Education Ministry will attend a special briefing on Friday, with state secretary-level staff also invited. The results will remain under strict secrecy until publication. In recent Pisa cycles, the Government Offices received the information only one day beforehand.

Skolverket has long taken a cautious approach to early disclosure. A 2007 incident, when then-Education Minister Jan Björklund was reported to have revealed Pisa information ahead of time, created problems between the OECD, which oversees Pisa internationally, and Skolverket, which handles Sweden’s participation.

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Several of my colleagues have been involved in this and argued for a different decision.

This year, several key Skolverket staff members argued for maintaining the more restrictive practice and informing the ministry closer to publication. Pernilla Jonsson, a unit manager at Skolverket, confirmed the internal criticism.

“Several of my colleagues have been involved in this and argued for a different decision,” Jonsson said. She added that staff feared information could leak and stressed Skolverket’s responsibility to the OECD to ensure the results did not become public early. The governing side will receive the briefing before the weekend, while the opposition will not receive equivalent advance information.

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There is always a fear that information will leak. And it absolutely must not. We have a responsibility to the OECD to ensure that these results do not leak.