Each presentation will utilise data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY) baseline data collection, conducted in 12 cities around the world in 2013–2014. The baseline data collection involved a PISA-based cognitive skills test and survey for 15-year-olds students in each city, with around 30,000 students taking part. The student survey included measures of a range of 21^st century skills, based on longstanding scaled instruments developed in international literature.  The session will report on results from these measures in each of the three cities, using consistent methods for analysis that will enable international comparison of results. It will also examine the system-level factors for each city that may have contributed to differences in results, both across cities and between different student groups in each one.

As a large-scale international longitudinal study, ISCY examines education systems around the world through the microcosm of a city. By focusing on the high school years, ISCY engages with the question of what sorts of skills, knowledge and attributes all schools may be expected to instil in their students, to equip them for the critical period of transition to life beyond school. ISCY goes beyond the focus on academic test scores that currently dominates international comparisons of education systems, and also investigates how well education systems foster the broad range of learning and life skills that students need for future success. Such skills, often referred to as non-cognitive or 21^st century skills, include perseverance, creativity, empathy, confidence and hope for the future. By capturing how well schools and systems support these skills, ISCY aims to make visible an important but under-recognised aspect of a high-performing contemporary education system.

Another key research question in the study is how well each system meets the needs of its diverse groups of learners, and which student groups may get left behind. The session will be structured around a common focus on equity, with each presenter examining differences in the prevalence of 21^st century skills across schools, and across specific student groups. The session Chair will facilitate discussion around commonalities and contrasts that emerge across the five presentations, to build a more comprehensive understanding of the interplay between systemic factors, student characteristics and the development of non-cognitive skills.

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