Ed Humpherson to Alastair McAlpine: Alternative Release Time for Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) statistics

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Sent from: Office for Statistics Regulation

Sent to: Scottish Government

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Dear Alastair,

Alternative Release Time for Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) statistics

Thank you for your letter requesting an alternative release time for the publication of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025 National Report for Scotland. You have explained that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development intends to publish the international results at 09:30 Paris time (08:30 UK time) on 8 September 2026, and that releasing the Scottish report at the same time would support the orderly and coherent publication of these statistics.

We are supportive of this decision based on your reasons set out, which are in line with our Alternative Release Times policy and the Standards for the Public Use of Statistics, Data and Wider Analysis. Publishing the Scottish report at the same time as the international release helps ensure equal access to the statistics and allows users to consider the Scottish findings alongside the wider international results as soon as they become available.

Thank you for making us aware of the circumstances surrounding this request. We appreciate your commitment to continuing to work with our office to support the orderly release of statistics.

Yours sincerely,

Ed Humpherson 
Director General for OSR 

Dear Ed, 

Alaister McAlpine to Ed Humpherson: Alternative Release Time for Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) statistics

I want to make you aware that the release of the Programme for International Student Assessment 2025 National report for Scotland is due to be published tomorrow morning (8 September 2026). These statistics are formed from international work and releases of these statistics in general reports will include Scottish statistics.

We have been made aware at a late stage that the OECD plan to release these statistics at 09:30 Paris time, which will be 08:30 UK time.

Under the Code of Practice, 3.6 which states that official statistics should “release at the standard time of 09:30am on a weekday unless an alternative release time is agreed with the Director General for Regulation”, I seek your agreement to release these statistics at an alternative time. To preserve the orderly release of these statistics the Scottish Government should publish and release them on Tuesday 8 Sept 2026 at 08:30.

Apologies for the lateness of this request and we will continue to work with your office on the orderly release of these statistics in the future.

Yours sincerely,  Alastair McAlpine