It is a known fact that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are expanding at great speed all over the world. Consequently, we can say that we live in a society of information (efficient and optimal organization of information and its exchange) and communication (efficient handling, exchange, and generation of knowledge).

ICTs are changing the way we live, and the way knowledge is created and shared, with the internet and mobile phones, computers and tablets being the primary tools for learning (Zhang & Zu, 2016).

In the field of education, one of the biggest challenges is to achieve digital and information literacy for all members of society. At a conceptual level, information is made of data and facts, and information literacy allows us to understand and interpret specific phenomena (Bundy, 2004). New technologies have facilitated the access and location of a great amount of information, but given the fact that anyone can easily publish information, we have to be able to distinguish good and bad information (Siddiq, Scherer & Tondeur, 2016). For this reason, it is very important to educate the new generation of the so-called “digital natives” (Prensky, 2001) in information literacy, understood as the ability to store, access and understand information, and to recognise when certain information is needed, as well as to find it, assess it and use it in an effective way (Ala-Mutka, 2011).

On the basis of the European Union recommendations on the competences that must be acquired by students regarding information literacy (European Commission, 2006), this work aims to assess both the self-perceived level of information literacy of secondary education students as well as the level of information literacy actually demonstrated in practical situations. Moreover, it intends to analyse the differences between the self-perceived and demonstrated levels of this competence. This study employs a four-dimension scale, based on previous research (Kong, 2007, 2009; Lau & Yuen, 2014; Rodríguez Conde et al., 2012). The dimensions are: Search (the ability to find the necessary information), Assessment (the ability to analytically deal with information), Management (the ability to handle and process information), and Communication (the ability to correctly convey information in different contexts and formats).

The main research questions are: 1, Which is the degree of self-perceived information literacy among Compulsory Secondary Education students? 2, Which is the level of performance they demonstrate regarding information literacy? 3, Does the self-perceived level match the performance level demonstrated by the students?

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