SANTIAGO, Sept. 7 — The first results from Latin America’s largest primary-education assessment are set to land in December, offering the region its clearest read yet on how much children are actually learning in reading, math and science. UNESCO confirmed the timeline this week for the 2025 Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study, known as ERCE 2025, the fifth edition of an exercise that has tracked student achievement across Latin America and the Caribbean for more than three decades.
The December release will cover reading and mathematics achievement for Grade 3, and reading, mathematics and science for Grade 6. The study is run by UNESCO’s Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education, or LLECE, with 18 participating jurisdictions: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico (through the state of Nuevo León), Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Beyond test scores
The results are designed to do more than rank classrooms. UNESCO says the data will let countries compare performance against earlier rounds — including ERCE 2019 and TERCE 2013 — and dig into the persistent gaps that separate the region’s education systems. The study also looks at what shapes learning, not just how much of it happens.
That means examining the conditions and experiences that broaden or limit educational opportunity for children and adolescents across the region. Officials stress the findings are meant to be translated into policy, giving governments evidence to strengthen teaching and learning systems and to support students who are being left behind.
What comes next
The rollout stretches well into next year. In April, UNESCO will release data on socioemotional skills — openness to diversity, empathy and self-regulation in school, which were assessed in the previous edition, plus two newly added measures: academic self-efficacy and co-operative work. Results from the writing assessment are scheduled for the second half of 2027.
The announcement, first made on Sept. 4 and updated this week, ties into UNESCO’s broader mission of supporting quality education worldwide and aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 4. For policymakers, educators and stakeholders across Latin America and the Caribbean, the coming months will show whether a decade of reforms is moving the needle where it matters most — in the classroom.
