NAPLAN Explained: How to Read the Results and What They Don't Tell You

NAPLAN, the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy, is sat by every Australian student in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, usually in March. It is the only nationally consistent measure of achievement across all schools, which is why so many rankings lean on it.

What is tested

Four tests across about a week:

• Reading: comprehension of a range of texts.
• Writing: a single narrative or persuasive piece, marked against ten criteria.
• Conventions of language: spelling, grammar and punctuation.
• Numeracy: number, algebra, measurement, geometry, statistics and probability.

Since 2023 the tests are online and adaptive: questions get harder or easier depending on how a student is going, which gives a more precise result.

How results are reported

Each student receives a score on a common scale and is placed in one of four proficiency levels for each test:

1. Exceeding: well above the expected standard for the year level.
2. Strong: meeting the expected standard.
3. Developing: working towards the standard.
4. Needs additional support: not yet achieving the basic skills expected.

Your child's individual report shows their level in each domain and where they sit relative to the national average and the middle 60% of students.

Reading a school's NAPLAN results

The My School website publishes each school's average scores, the percentage of students in each proficiency level, and comparisons with "similar schools" (schools with a similar ICSEA). When you look at a school's results, concentrate on three things:

• Comparison with similar schools, not with all schools. A school well above similar schools is adding real value.
• Student gain between Year 3 and Year 5, or Year 7 and Year 9. Gain is the best available signal of teaching effectiveness because it controls for where students started.
• Trend over several years. One strong or weak cohort proves little.

What NAPLAN cannot tell you

• It measures literacy and numeracy only. Science, the arts, languages, wellbeing and critical thinking are invisible.
• It is a snapshot from one week in March.
• Small schools have volatile results because a few students move the average.
• Schools can, and some do, encourage weaker students to withdraw, which inflates averages. Check the participation rate.

Why our Success Index doesn't include NAPLAN (yet)

ACARA publishes school-level NAPLAN results on My School but does not release them as a bulk dataset, and My School's terms prohibit automated collection. We only use data that is published for every school in a consistent format, so our rankings currently use ICSEA, staffing, enrolment and trend data. We link to each school's website so you can see any results they publish.

Preparing for NAPLAN without the stress

NAPLAN is a low-stakes test for students and should not be crammed for. The best preparation is simply being at or above year level in reading, writing and maths all year round. If you are unsure where your child sits, a free assessment maps their skills against the Australian Curriculum in about an hour and shows you exactly what to work on.