29 October 2024

WorldSkills and OECD renew PISA-VET agreement

At WorldSkills Conference 2024, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and WorldSkills International signed a renewed agreement on the PISA-VET framework.

Since 2020, OECD and WorldSkills have been working closely to develop the global standard for assessing the knowledge and skills required for vocational occupations. Inspired by the success of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), PISA-VET will be the first international large-scale assessment of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes in the world.

WorldSkills International is giving OECD access to its assessment materials and sharing insights from its decades of experience designing and managing live performance assessment during WorldSkills Competitions. In return, WorldSkills Members and Partners can learn from OECD researchers, contribute to the development of the framework, and get involved in initial trials.

The two organizations took the opportunity to renew their agreement at WorldSkills Conference 2024, part of WorldSkills Lyon 2024. David Hoey, CEO of WorldSkills International, recognized the value of the partnership saying, “At the heart of the work we have done with OECD, is a shared mission focused on creating and enhancing opportunities for skilled young people. Together, our goal is to raise the profile of skills, and to encourage more young people to take up Technical and Vocational Education and Training.”

The PISA-VET framework was launched in March 2024, an important milestone in the development of the assessment system. During this dedicated session at WorldSkills Conference 2024, El Iza Mohamedou, Head of Centre for Skills at OECD, described the framework to delegates and gave them an update on progress and timelines.

She said, “Our goal is for PISA-VET to become the world’s premier yardstick for comparing quality equity and efficiency. We are now entering pilot in 2025 and 2026 and hope to do a large scale from 2030 onwards. Working with WorldSkills has helped us take a huge leap forward.”

During the panel discussion that followed, David reflected on the benefits for the WorldSkills community saying, “There is a massive spectrum between the skills systems of our Members. They vary in their readiness to meet the challenges of the future. We want to raise the quality, capacity, and capability of their TVET systems.”

He continued, “The OECD PISA system and WorldSkills performance assessments are very complimentary. We want to marry the two together and scale. A rising tide lifts all boats and our hope is that this partnership can benefit all.”