NAPLAN Assessment and Reporting

Each year since 2008, Australia-wide National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) testing has been conducted for students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9.

The intention of NAPLAN is to provide a common measurement and reporting instrument for all Australian students and schools. Students receive individual reports that allow parents to identify aspects of achievement and some comparative information with their children's peers across the nation. To the extent that the tests are based on only a small part of the overall curriculum, they may indicate some individual strengths and weaknesses.

NAPLAN results represent only a single 'snapshot' of an individual student's achievement at a particular time. NAPLAN tests the sorts of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling and numeracy. The assessments are undertaken nationwide, every year, in May. NAPLAN is made up of tests in the four areas (or 'domains') of:

• Reading
• Writing
• Language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation)
• Numeracy 

NAPLAN results need to be understood in the context of the richer and more continuous information that schools have about learners' progress and demonstrations of learning. Each student's semester report of achievement, prepared by their school and sent to parents, remains the most comprehensive guide of student achievement.
Schools receive class and school reports of their NAPLAN results each year. These may help schools identify areas of curriculum planning and curriculum enactments requiring attention. NAPLAN results for every school are available on the federal government's MySchool website.

NAPLAN is moving online. This means moving NAPLAN from the current paper-based tests to computer-based assessments. Significant planning, development, research and trialling has been carried out to prepare schools to move to NAPLAN online.

The National Assessment Program website provides more information about NAPLAN Online including a practice test: NAP.edu.au.

For more information regarding NAPLAN, contact your local School Principal.