Administering PISA in your school

D. Complete Device and Internet Verification

The PISA assessment is delivered online via a browser-based application, i.e., the PISA platform. 

Whitelist Domains

It is important that schools whitelist all the domains listed below and all subdomains in these domains. The PISA URL (pisa2025.org) will use these domains and subdomains for the assessment, so they should all be marked as trusted.

Whitelist the following domains:

• 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/

 

Confirm Device Requirements

Verify Device and Internet Compatibility

Note that device verification tests compatibility and internet strength simultaneously. Devices that will be used for PISA should be verified for compatibility with the PISA software.

Devices should be verified one at a time since each device verification simulates a session with 50 concurrent test takers. Testing all or many devices simultaneously may overload the system. If possible, to ensure test reliability, verification should be conducted at approximately the same time of the day as the assessment is planned to take place.

• Follow the steps below to verify each device that will be used for PISA and complete section D of the School Information Form. Please note that the PISA Diagnostic Tool is available in English only.
  
  
  1. Go to: cmec.ca/pisa-verif
  2. After clicking the link, the following landing page will appear:
     
  3. Type in the school name.
  4. Select Canada using the drop-down menu and click Enter.
  5. After you click Enter, a prompt for the Foreign Language Assessment (FLA) will appear, as below. Click NO .
     
  6. After you click NO, the system will perform compatibility verification. Verification may take a few minutes. The screen will show you the progress of running these checks.
     
  7. Once the compatibility verification has been completed, the results will be displayed on the device screen.
     

     Compatibility Verification Successful	Compatibility Verification Failed

  8. Input the verification results in the corresponding section of the School Information Form.
     1. In the cases in which PISA device verification was successful, indicate the number of compatible devices of each type available in the school for PISA.
     2. In the cases in which PISA device verification failed, record the bandwidth and browser information displayed on screen for any one of the failing devices, as illustrated above. Additionally, indicate the number and type of failing devices.
        
        In cases in which only the WebSocket component of the PISA device verification failed, contact your IT specialist and ask them to verify SSL/TLS certificates, encryption protocols, and cipher suites, and ensure that both client and server support the same secure connection parameters. After your IT specialist has confirmed the above processes have been completed, try to re-run the PISA device verification and enter the results.

The results will enable CMEC to confirm the technical format of PISA administration at the school from one of the following options:

1. School-owned devices: the school’s own devices are compatible with the PISA software and will be used for the assessment.
2. Loan laptops: if the school does not have any compatible devices, CMEC will send the school up to 20 loan laptops to administer the assessment.
3. Offline format: if there is not sufficient internet connectivity to administer the assessment, CMEC will provide the school with the necessary equipment to administer an offline computer-based version of PISA.

 

In cases of either option 2. or 3., CMEC will communicate with the school contact and the IT specialist prior to the assessment to make the requisite arrangements.