The OECD is an inevitable force in contemporary education, and informs political decision-making and policy-making in education, although several researchers have questioned whether the OECD is an objective, politically neutral organisation (Steiner-Khamsi, 2019; Ydesen, Kaukko & Magnúsdóttir, 2022). Still, the organisation’s reputation sustains and politicians are under pressure to move education systems up the OECD rankings of education systems. In this paper, policies are seen as “intended to bring about idealised solutions to diagnosed problems” (Ball 1990, 26) and are contested and interpreted by policy-makers, practitioners and external actors. Compared to other countries, Icelandic Ministers have been independent and the role of the position loosely defined (Kristinsson, 2009, Magnúsdóttir & Jónasson, 2022). However, the governmental aim has been to strengthen professionalism and democratic practices (Árnason & Henryson, 2018). This paper illustrates how the OECD affects recent education policy-making in Iceland and how governmental procedure has developed from one visionary policy document to another, utilizing the OECD. We analyse the most recent large-scale education policy-package from Iceland and compare it to the process on the White Paper 2014 (Magnúsdóttir & Jónasson; Ydesen, Kauko & Magnúsdóttir, 2022). The documents chosen include Education Policy to 2030 (Icelandic Parliament 2020), an action plan (2020-2024), and two green papers (2017; 2019). The introduction to Education Policy to 2030 announces that OECD was the main provider of consultancy throughout the policy making process and that report (OECD, 2021) is therefore included in the analysis. Theoretical concepts from Popkewitz (2008) and Bacchis WPR-method (Bacchi, 1999) structures the analysis. Interestingly, neither the Education Policy to 2030 nor the report from the OECD frame it in relation to either current educational legislation or curricula. The national curriculum is mentioned only when adaptions of it to the new policy are suggested. The White Paper (2014) was not supported by green papers, however, Education Policy to 2030 was supported by two green papers, both concerning inclusive education. The OECD report is heavily self-referential mostly referring to other OECD reports and the two supporting green papers are not mentioned Our preliminary conclusions are that the OECD is of great influence in these two education policies studied here, and in the Education Policy to 2030, they are not only a referential point and a tool to legitimate particular policies, but also a post-hoc policy-implementation adviser. It seems that OECD has become the solution to the perceived lack of professional procedure in Icelandic governance.

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