Despite successive reforms and a high percentage of the national budget devoted to education, Morocco ranks among last in terms of student achievement. This article reviews the definition of student achievement, examines the measures targeting the improvement of student achievement in the last Moroccan educational reforms based on the three drivers identified by Masino and Niño-Zarazúa (Int J Educ Dev 48:53-65, 2015). In addition, it identifies the main difficulties encountered in the implementation of these measures and puts forward some recommendations. It thus concludes that there is a growing gap between the reforms' aspirations and daily practices at regional and school levels. It also shows that despite the significant progress in infrastructure and enrolment, additional efforts are needed to pragmatically raise student achievement in Morocco.