National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) test scores have remained stable, widening educational gaps between boys and girls, urban and regional children and First Nations students.
Nearly 1.3 million students across more than 9,400 Australian schools and campuses have completed the national assessment program for students in years three, five, seven and nine.
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) changed the NAPLAN proficiency standards in 2023, making it difficult to explore trends and compare data.
But the 2024 results show no significant difference in average scores compared to the previous two years, which ACARA chief executive Stephen Gniel welcomed.
“The fact that Australian student results have remained stable… is a significant achievement,” he said.
However, there are significant gaps between different student demographics in test scores for math, reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Female students outperformed their male counterparts in writing, with 73 percent of them scoring at “strong” or “above” levels, compared to 58 percent of boys in seventh grade.
Male students performed better in numeracy than girls, with 5.9 percent fewer girls in third grade reaching “exceeding” levels and 6.7 percent fewer in fifth grade.
The results also showed that a higher proportion of Indigenous students required additional support.
In reading and numeracy, approximately one in three First Nations children reached the “needs additional support” proficiency level, compared to one in ten non-Indigenous students.
A divide between urban and rural schools also appeared in the results, with 24 per cent of pupils from very remote schools being judged as ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding’ compared to 70.7 per cent of pupils from schools in major cities.
The 2024 results “provide clear insights into areas requiring our collective focus and improvement efforts,” Gniel said.
NAPLAN participation rates also remained stable, with the proportion of students participating increasing slightly to 93.4 per cent.
