The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) represents a commitment by governments to monitor student achievement within an internationally agreed framework. In the decade since its first report was issued, PISA has become the most comprehensive and rigorous student assessment programme in the world. The countries participating in PISA together make up close to 90% of the global economy.

At a time when OECD and partner countries are trying to figure out how to reduce burgeoning debt and make the most of shrinking public budgets, spending on education, which averages slightly more than 6% of GDP among OECD countries, is an obvious target for scrutiny. Education officials, teachers, policy makers, parents and students are discussing the merits of shorter or longer school days or school years, how much time should be allotted to various subjects, and the usefulness of lessons outside of school and independent study.

How much time do students spend learning science, mathematics and the language of instruction through deliberate learning activities? In PISA 2006, students were asked to report how much time they typically spent per week studying these three subjects in deliberate learning activities, such as regular school lessons, out-of-school-time lessons, or individual study. Students could report one of the following five options: ”No time”, “Less than 2 hours per week”, “2 or more but less than 4 hours per week”, “4 or more but less than 6 hours per week” or “6 or more hours per week”.

In general, the findings in this chapter show that students’ learning time patterns differ according to individual and school characteristics within countries. The individual characteristics examined are gender, socioeconomic status and immigrant status; the school characteristics studied involve lower and upper secondary schools, academic and vocational schools, public and private schools, and schools in urban and rural areas.

This chapter examines the relationship between students’ learning time and students’ academic performance in PISA, both across and within countries. Do students who spend more time learning achieve higher scores? Is the amount of time spent learning more important than how that time is spent? In other words, is the quality of learning time as important as the quantity of learning time?