Right now, teenagers around Australia are representing the country in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment. Conducted every three years since 2000, PISA assesses the ability of 15-year-old students to use their reading, maths and science knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems.

By the time the results are released next year, policymakers will be hoping to have begun to reverse Australia’s long-term decline in achievement – a drop that has been larger for private schools than for government schools.