IT Requirements

The following sections review the necessary technical preparations for the upcoming PISA 2025 administration.

To facilitate a smooth and uninterrupted testing experience, we kindly ask for your support in verifying the following areas.

 Firewall configuration

The PISA assessment will be delivered online through a browser-based application, known as the PISA platform. Please ensure that the school firewall permits access to the required domains listed below. These domains are essential for the test to run properly. To ensure proper access, it is essential that schools whitelist all required domains and subdomains used by the platform. Please mark the following domains as trusted:

  • pisa2025.org/locale/
  • prod.gcp-eu.taocloud.org/
  • pisa2025-portal.prod.gcp-eu.taocloud.org/
  • auth-pisa2025.prod.gcp-eu.taocloud.org/
  • testrunner-pisa2025.prod.gcp-eu.taocloud.org/

Device requirements and compatibility

Participating schools previously verified their device and internet connection compatibility with the PISA assessment. Schools without compatible devices will receive loan devices from CMEC. If any additional configuration is required to connect these devices to the school network, we kindly ask that you reach out to the respective school contacts to remind them of the necessary steps and provide support where possible.

Please ensure that all browsers on the testing devices are up to date to avoid compatibility issues.
If required, you may find information on device requirements and verification at https://cmec.ca/pisa/45/Complete_Device_and_Internet_Verification.html

If an autocorrect function is enabled on school devices, it should be disabled to avoid disruptive interactions with the assessment.

Internet verification

Internet compatibility with the assessment was previously verified by the school using the following link which simulates the activity of 50 simultaneous test-takers: cmec.ca/pisa-verif

Up to 42 students may participate in PISA simultaneously. The recommended internet capacity for 50 concurrent users is at least 40 Mbps download, 12 Mbps upload, and a maximum latency of 800 ms.

Please note: On Chromebooks, bandwidth test results may occasionally display as a "fail" due to a known issue. PISA is aware of this issue and recommends verifying the network speed by running one of the following speed test websites on a Wi-Fi-connected device at the school (not using an Ethernet cable):

Please ensure, to the degree possible, that students taking the test during peak school hours may do so without performance issues.

Offline method

Schools with insufficient or no internet connection to participate in the online assessment will use the offline method. Equipment will be sent to schools who require it two to three days prior to the assessment date if possible. It is advisable that IT personnel be involved to set up, run, and shutdown the virtual machine, as well as to synchronize the student data for these schools. The PISA 2025 Offline Assessment Method Manual will be sent out to schools along with the equipment.

Click here to download a copy of the Offline Method Manual.