Drivers of student performance: insights from Europe

Using the PISA data set, McKinsey consultancy has created five regional reports that consider what drives student performance. In this one, McKinsey consultancy analyzes the results of 27 European Union (EU) countries and 12 non-EU countries in the region that participated in the 2015 PISA. Europe is a large and diverse region, and the PISA results reflect this, with performance ranging from poor to great. As a whole, the EU’s performance has been flat since 2006; performance in non-EU countries has improved slightly. This report examines three factors found to be particularly important to student outcomes: student mindsets, teaching practices, and information technology.