Standardisation Study 2026

In the Standardisation Study 2026, the newly developed test items were administered to a nationally representative sample of students. The standardisation data serve two purposes: they help define national proficiency scales (point-based) and provide the foundation for developing proficiency level models aligned with the revised educational standards. In the future, the proficiency scales and proficiency level models will be used to report educational monitoring (e.g., for the IQB Trends in Student Achievement).

A total of 12,000 Grade 3 and Grade 4 students from approximately 455 mainstream and special schools across all 16 German federal states participated in the Standardisation Study 2026. Testing took place from March to April 2026. In each class, the assessment was typically conducted on two consecutive mornings within this time frame.

The study was conducted as part of the KMK’s overall strategy for educational monitoring and was based on decisions adopted by the education ministers of the German federal states. Overall responsibility for scientific oversight and data protection compliance rested with the Institute for Educational Quality Improvement (IQB) at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin under the academic leadership of Prof. Dr Petra Stanat. The IQB developed and pre-tested the assessment instruments used in the study. IEA Hamburg is responsible for organising and conducting the data collection. IEA Hamburg also trained external test administrators, who then carried out the assessments in the schools.

In German, the assessment included test items covering the competence domains of Reading and Listening Comprehension, Orthography, and Language and Language Use. In Mathematics, test items addressed all five content-related competence domains (core ideas) defined in the educational standards. The assessment encompassed various item formats, including closed-format items (such as multiple-choice items) and constructed-response items that required a short answer. The test items utilised the digital testing environment, for example, by incorporating videos.

Because the study was designed to encompass a wide range of item formats, students received different sets of test items. As a result, each student completed only a small proportion of all the test items being trialled. A random process assigned each student a set of test items to complete. Students with special educational needs in the areas of learning, language, and emotional and social development were given test items adjusted in difficulty and a shorter questionnaire.

In most classes, students completed all test items on a tablet. In some classes, established paper-based assessment tools were used instead to generate reference data for developing the new proficiency level models.

At no point do teachers, other educational staff, or legal guardians have access to the students’ test responses or questionnaire answers. All data from the tests and questionnaires are collected and processed in pseudonymised form, meaning that no school or student names are recorded. All reports on the study’s findings will be based on aggregated data. Therefore, it will not be possible to link the results to individual students.

Compliance with data regulations is a crucial aspect of conducting the study. All materials and processes used in the context of the study have been assessed with regard to data protection regulations and authorised by the respective federal state’s ministry of education. Please note our explanations on data protection in the IQB Trends in Student Achievement.