Teachers could be set to alter their classroom work to coincide with even more tests as individual secondary schools across England will be able to allow their pupils to take the influential Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests.

These assessments will allow schools, teachers and students to see how they compare with the highest performing schools in Asia and Europe in reading, maths and science.

Education minister Liz Truss believes the OECD Pisa tests are an excellent opportunity for schools to compare themselves against the world's best education systems, adding: "It is down to secondary schools themselves to decide whether they want to take part in these tests run by a highly respected, independent organisation."

People in secondary teaching jobs in Essex may be among the first to familiarise themselves with Pica exams, as the local county council has already stated it will be supporting schools to take part.

Ray Gooding, Essex County Council's cabinet member for education, said: "I will actively be encouraging Essex schools to take part to benefit from the ability to assess performance, share best practice and improve learning across the county."

December will see the publication of the next Pica league tables and these lists have become important international benchmarks, while the OECD believes they are an important indicator for future economic performance.

So far, Asian countries have always ranked high, with Scandinavian nations among the best in Europe, while the UK has been a middle-ranking performer. However, more schools taking the tests could lead to different results, while the OECD will break its lists down to allow individual schools to see how well they perform on a global scale.

The OECD's education chief Andreas Schleiche explained the idea is to inform teachers and schools about where to focus their efforts, raise standards and learn from successful school systems in other countries.