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ACER International Benchmark Results: Pathways PYP Students Benchmark Strongly Against the World November 12Pathways World School, Gurgaon
Learning Without Textbooks. Benchmarking Against the World.
Our PYP 3, 4 and 5 students sit the ACER International Benchmark Tests—an assessment they do not prepare for. In 2026, Pathways students performed above the India average in every grade and subject assessed, and above the international average in five of six comparisons.
At Pathways World School, primary learning begins with curiosity.
Our PYP classrooms are built around inquiry, exploration and the joy of discovering how things work—not around prescribed textbooks. At this stage, there are no external examinations. Instead, children are encouraged to ask questions, make connections, explain their thinking and apply what they learn.
But we believe in knowing how our approach translates beyond our classrooms. So, each year, our PYP 3, 4 and 5 students sit the ACER International Benchmark Tests (IBT), developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research.
The IBT is not an examination students prepare for. It is a standardised international assessment that measures English and Mathematics on a common scale, allowing us to benchmark our students against peers in India and around the world.
What the 2025–26 results tell us
The results are encouraging—and they give us an independent measure of the learning we see every day at Pathways.
- Above the India average in all six comparisons, across English and Mathematics in PYP 3, 4 and 5.
- Above the international average in five of six comparisons.
- PYP 4 English recorded a mean score of 508, compared with an international mean of 472.
- PYP 5 Mathematics recorded a mean score of 526, compared with an international mean of 498.
- PYP 5 students led across both subjects, with mean scores of 517 in English and 526 in Mathematics, ahead of both the India and international means.
English
Pathways students performed above both the India and international means in English across PYP 3, 4 and 5.
Mathematics
Pathways students performed above the India mean in Mathematics across all three grades, and above the international mean in PYP 4 and PYP 5.
What this means for our families
For us, these results are not about teaching to a test. They are about validating an approach to learning.
Our children learn without textbooks at the primary level, yet perform strongly when measured against an international benchmark they have not specifically prepared for. The results reflect the qualities we value in our classrooms every day: children who are curious, articulate, confident in their thinking and able to apply their learning in new contexts.
Results are based on mean scale scores of PYP 3, 4 and 5 students who sat the ACER International Benchmark Tests in 2025–26. Source: Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).
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