One in three students have failed to meet Naplan benchmarks, according to results released on Wednesday by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara). The tests, taken in March by 1.3 million students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9, showed that 39.2% performed below expectations in grammar and punctuation, struggling to recognise verbs and pronouns.
Dr Jordana Hunter, education program director at the Grattan Institute, described the results as a “really big concern”, noting that one in three students falling in the bottom two proficiency bands requires early intervention to catch up. The data also revealed persistent gaps for disadvantaged groups, including Indigenous students and those from remote areas.
Positive trends included higher-than-average scores in numeracy across all year levels, with an additional 20,000 students reaching the highest “exceeding” level compared with last year. Literacy results also showed slight improvements since 2023, and there was a small increase in high-performing Indigenous students in writing, reading and numeracy in years 7 and 9.
Education Minister Jason Clare said the improvements were “good news” but acknowledged more work is needed. He highlighted a $16bn investment to fully fund public schools by 2034, tied to reforms such as phonics and numeracy checks in year 1 and catch-up tutoring.
Acara chief executive Stephen Gniel said the results highlight areas requiring “collective attention”, particularly for students from regional and remote areas, disadvantaged backgrounds, and Indigenous students. Just two in 10 students from very remote schools achieved “strong” or “exceeding” in reading, writing and numeracy, compared with seven in 10 from major cities.
