What is happening in school classrooms? Latest NAPLAN results raise alarm
The annual National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) figures for more than 1.3 million students in years three, five, seven and nine were released on July 30.
There was little movement overall from the 2024 results, which revealed one in three school pupils nationally were failing to meet basic literacy and numeracy standards.
The 2025 tests, conducted across almost 9500 schools in March, found a slight increase in numeracy scores on average nationwide across years five, seven and nine - particularly among better-performing students.
"That would be really exciting if that proves to be a trend that we see built on next year," Grattan Institute education program director Jordana Hunter said.
"NAPLAN data does bounce around a little bit, year to year."
But reading and writing in years three and five continued to decline compared to 2023.
And children in regional areas were much more likely to be failing the basic standards.
For example, while nearly 70 per cent of students in major cities met year three reading standards, just 60 per cent of their inner regional counterparts did - and less than 53 per cent of those in outer regional areas did.
"The key thing that worries us is that, if we look nationally, about one in three students are not meeting that proficient benchmark," Dr Hunter said.
"They're falling in either the 'needs additional support' or the 'developing' categories - and that just means they're not on track with their learning.
"So they are really struggling to keep up with the curriculum in the classroom, and that has consequences for those young people as they move through school."
She said Australia should be aiming to get 90 per cent of students proficient in the basic skills.
"The benchmark is not a particularly high bar," Dr Hunter said.
This would require more investment in professional development for teachers.
"Really, we need to get much more serious about investing in the professional expertise of our teachers.
"They're the ones that will make the difference day in, day out," she said.
"It's not about class sizes. It's about the professional expertise of our teachers and how well they teach in a school, work together on a whole school approach to teaching."
Dr Hunter said there was "a huge opportunity" to improve primary school education, which was undervalued.
"We're not intentional enough in primary school; we have taken our foot off the accelerator," she said.
"Our expectations aren't high enough and we're actually doing those children a disservice."
Australia should not "get used to" one third of school pupils falling behind national standards, Dr Hunter said.
"It doesn't have to be this way.
"We know there are systems internationally that have significantly improved the outcomes and they've done it.
"It's not rocket science."
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) reported NAPLAN test participation in 2025 was at 93.8 per cent, the highest level since 2017.
Individual school results are set to be released later in the year.
Primary school students across Australia are performing worse in basic reading and writing for the second year in a row, the latest NAPLAN results show.
The annual National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) figures for more than 1.3 million students in years three, five, seven and nine were released on July 30.
There was little movement overall from the 2024 results, which revealed one in three school pupils nationally were failing to meet basic literacy and numeracy standards.
The 2025 tests, conducted across almost 9500 schools in March, found a slight increase in numeracy scores on average nationwide across years five, seven and nine - particularly among better-performing students.
"That would be really exciting if that proves to be a trend that we see built on next year," Grattan Institute education program director Jordana Hunter said.
"NAPLAN data does bounce around a little bit, year to year."
But reading and writing in years three and five continued to decline compared to 2023.
And children in regional areas were much more likely to be failing the basic standards.
For example, while nearly 70 per cent of students in major cities met year three reading standards, just 60 per cent of their inner regional counterparts did - and less than 53 per cent of those in outer regional areas did.
"The key thing that worries us is that, if we look nationally, about one in three students are not meeting that proficient benchmark," Dr Hunter said.
"They're falling in either the 'needs additional support' or the 'developing' categories - and that just means they're not on track with their learning.
"So they are really struggling to keep up with the curriculum in the classroom, and that has consequences for those young people as they move through school."
She said Australia should be aiming to get 90 per cent of students proficient in the basic skills.
"The benchmark is not a particularly high bar," Dr Hunter said.
This would require more investment in professional development for teachers.
"Really, we need to get much more serious about investing in the professional expertise of our teachers.
"They're the ones that will make the difference day in, day out," she said.
"It's not about class sizes. It's about the professional expertise of our teachers and how well they teach in a school, work together on a whole school approach to teaching."
Dr Hunter said there was "a huge opportunity" to improve primary school education, which was undervalued.
"We're not intentional enough in primary school; we have taken our foot off the accelerator," she said.
"Our expectations aren't high enough and we're actually doing those children a disservice."
Australia should not "get used to" one third of school pupils falling behind national standards, Dr Hunter said.
"It doesn't have to be this way.
"We know there are systems internationally that have significantly improved the outcomes and they've done it.
"It's not rocket science."
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) reported NAPLAN test participation in 2025 was at 93.8 per cent, the highest level since 2017.
Individual school results are set to be released later in the year.
Primary school students across Australia are performing worse in basic reading and writing for the second year in a row, the latest NAPLAN results show.
The annual National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) figures for more than 1.3 million students in years three, five, seven and nine were released on July 30.
There was little movement overall from the 2024 results, which revealed one in three school pupils nationally were failing to meet basic literacy and numeracy standards.
The 2025 tests, conducted across almost 9500 schools in March, found a slight increase in numeracy scores on average nationwide across years five, seven and nine - particularly among better-performing students.
"That would be really exciting if that proves to be a trend that we see built on next year," Grattan Institute education program director Jordana Hunter said.
"NAPLAN data does bounce around a little bit, year to year."
But reading and writing in years three and five continued to decline compared to 2023.
And children in regional areas were much more likely to be failing the basic standards.
For example, while nearly 70 per cent of students in major cities met year three reading standards, just 60 per cent of their inner regional counterparts did - and less than 53 per cent of those in outer regional areas did.
"The key thing that worries us is that, if we look nationally, about one in three students are not meeting that proficient benchmark," Dr Hunter said.
"They're falling in either the 'needs additional support' or the 'developing' categories - and that just means they're not on track with their learning.
"So they are really struggling to keep up with the curriculum in the classroom, and that has consequences for those young people as they move through school."
She said Australia should be aiming to get 90 per cent of students proficient in the basic skills.
"The benchmark is not a particularly high bar," Dr Hunter said.
This would require more investment in professional development for teachers.
"Really, we need to get much more serious about investing in the professional expertise of our teachers.
"They're the ones that will make the difference day in, day out," she said.
"It's not about class sizes. It's about the professional expertise of our teachers and how well they teach in a school, work together on a whole school approach to teaching."
Dr Hunter said there was "a huge opportunity" to improve primary school education, which was undervalued.
"We're not intentional enough in primary school; we have taken our foot off the accelerator," she said.
"Our expectations aren't high enough and we're actually doing those children a disservice."
Australia should not "get used to" one third of school pupils falling behind national standards, Dr Hunter said.
"It doesn't have to be this way.
"We know there are systems internationally that have significantly improved the outcomes and they've done it.
"It's not rocket science."
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) reported NAPLAN test participation in 2025 was at 93.8 per cent, the highest level since 2017.
Individual school results are set to be released later in the year.
Primary school students across Australia are performing worse in basic reading and writing for the second year in a row, the latest NAPLAN results show.
The annual National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) figures for more than 1.3 million students in years three, five, seven and nine were released on July 30.
There was little movement overall from the 2024 results, which revealed one in three school pupils nationally were failing to meet basic literacy and numeracy standards.
The 2025 tests, conducted across almost 9500 schools in March, found a slight increase in numeracy scores on average nationwide across years five, seven and nine - particularly among better-performing students.
"That would be really exciting if that proves to be a trend that we see built on next year," Grattan Institute education program director Jordana Hunter said.
"NAPLAN data does bounce around a little bit, year to year."
But reading and writing in years three and five continued to decline compared to 2023.
And children in regional areas were much more likely to be failing the basic standards.
For example, while nearly 70 per cent of students in major cities met year three reading standards, just 60 per cent of their inner regional counterparts did - and less than 53 per cent of those in outer regional areas did.
"The key thing that worries us is that, if we look nationally, about one in three students are not meeting that proficient benchmark," Dr Hunter said.
"They're falling in either the 'needs additional support' or the 'developing' categories - and that just means they're not on track with their learning.
"So they are really struggling to keep up with the curriculum in the classroom, and that has consequences for those young people as they move through school."
She said Australia should be aiming to get 90 per cent of students proficient in the basic skills.
"The benchmark is not a particularly high bar," Dr Hunter said.
This would require more investment in professional development for teachers.
"Really, we need to get much more serious about investing in the professional expertise of our teachers.
"They're the ones that will make the difference day in, day out," she said.
"It's not about class sizes. It's about the professional expertise of our teachers and how well they teach in a school, work together on a whole school approach to teaching."
Dr Hunter said there was "a huge opportunity" to improve primary school education, which was undervalued.
"We're not intentional enough in primary school; we have taken our foot off the accelerator," she said.
"Our expectations aren't high enough and we're actually doing those children a disservice."
Australia should not "get used to" one third of school pupils falling behind national standards, Dr Hunter said.
"It doesn't have to be this way.
"We know there are systems internationally that have significantly improved the outcomes and they've done it.
"It's not rocket science."
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) reported NAPLAN test participation in 2025 was at 93.8 per cent, the highest level since 2017.
Individual school results are set to be released later in the year.
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