Australian assessment scores

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment for Australian students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9. The assessment shows how every child is progressing against national standards in literacy and numeracy over time. This progress is important to follow as numeracy is an essential basis for STEM skills.

Note: The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) reported student achievement in NAPLAN against 4 levels of proficiency in 2023. This replaced the previous numerical NAPLAN bands and national minimum standards. Because of this, the time series was reset and NAPLAN achievement from 2022 and earlier can’t be compared with 2023 onwards. Read more about the old and new ways of measuring student achievement.

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Data insights

Numeracy

In 2024, girls’ and boys’ average numeracy scores decreased for years 3 and 9 and increased for years 5 and 7. Average numeracy scores were higher for boys than girls across all year levels. This was also the case in 2023.

Average numeracy scores in 2024 were closest in the Northern Territory, with boys scoring 9 points higher than girls when averaged across all year levels. They were furthest apart in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory, where boys scored 17 points higher than girls when averaged across all year levels.

Between 11% and 16% of boys at each year level were in the ‘exceeding’ proficiency level for numeracy in 2024. This range is similar to 2023, where 12% to 15% of boys achieved ‘exceeding’ proficiency.

Between 7% and 11% of girls at each year level were in the ‘exceeding’ proficiency level for numeracy in 2024. This range is also similar to 2023 results, where 8% to 10% of girls achieved the ‘exceeding’ proficiency level. The proportion of girls in the ‘exceeding’ proficiency level was consistently lower than boys across all year levels.

Comparing 2023 and 2024 results shows, across all states and the ACT, the percentage of students achieving the ‘exceeding’ proficiency level falls for students in years 3 and 9 but increases or remains the same for students in years 5 and 7. The Northern Territory is the exception, because the proportion of girls at the ‘exceeding’ proficiency level stayed the same between 2023 and 2024 across all year levels.

Children in regional and remote locations have consistently lower average numeracy scores compared to children in major cities. The difference in average scores between children in very remote locations and children in major cities ranged between 109 points (for year 3) and 127 points (for year 7).

Nationally, there was a decrease in the proportion of First Nations students in years 3, 5 and 7 in the ‘needs additional support’ proficiency level between 2023 and 2024. First Nations students in year 9 remained the same at 35%.

• For First Nations children in both Years 3 and 5, there were decreases from 34% in 2023 to 32% in 2024.
• For First Nations children in Year 7, this was a decrease from 35% in 2023 to 33% in 2024.

Looking at results by First Nations remoteness areas, there were decreases in proportions of First Nations students in the ‘needs additional support’ proficiency level for numeracy from 2023 to 2024. The largest of these was 17% (from 75% in 2023 to 58% in 2024), for year 5 students in NSW very remote areas.

Children with a language background other than English (LBOTE) had higher average numeracy scores than non-LBOTE children. At the national level in 2024, average numeracy scores were:

• 411 for year 3 LBOTE students compared to 401 for year 3 non-LBOTE students
• 504 for year 5 LBOTE students compared to 483 for year 5 non-LBOTE students
• 559 for year 7 LBOTE students compared to 533 for year 7 non-LBOTE students
• 583 for year 9 LBOTE students compared to 559 for year 9 non-LBOTE students.

Literacy

In 2024, girls’ literacy scores were an average of 18 points higher than boys’ scores. This was similar to 2023, where girls’ literacy scores were an average of 17 points higher than boys’ scores.

Across all year levels, girls outperformed boys in every literacy assessment area. These areas are:

• grammar and punctuation
• reading
• writing
• spelling.

In each of the literacy assessment areas, a larger percentage of girls than boys were in the 'exceeding’ proficiency level.

See full NAPLAN literacy results on the National Assessment Program website.

Data insights

Numeracy over previous years

In 2022, girls’ and boys’ average numeracy scores decreased for all year levels compared to 2021. The decreases were similar between girls and boys, especially in years 5 and 7. Average scores decreased slightly more for girls in year 3 and boys in year 9.

Between 93% and 96% of girls at each year level scored at or above the minimum standard in numeracy in 2022.

Across all year levels, a smaller percentage of girls than boys achieved at or above the highest band usually achieved in their year group. This is consistent with the 2021 NAPLAN numeracy results.

The differences between diversity groups are similar over time:

• Average numeracy scores were consistently lower for First Nations children compared to non-Indigenous children, across all year levels.
• Children in regional and remote locations have consistently lower average numeracy scores, compared to children in major cities.

Children with a language background other than English (LBOTE) were an exception, as they tended to have higher average numeracy scores than non-LBOTE children over the entire time series.

About the data

As noted above, the time series was reset in 2023. While 2024 and future results will be able to be compared to 2023 to form a new time series, NAPLAN achievement from 2022 and previous years can’t be compared with 2023.

From 2023 onwards, student achievement in NAPLAN is reported against 4 levels of proficiency. The standards are set at a challenging but reasonable expectation of what students know and can do at the time of testing. There are 4 proficiency levels:

• exceeding
• strong
• developing
• needs additional support.

Before 2023, reporting was against numerical NAPLAN bands and national minimum standards. Each of the NAPLAN assessment scales described student achievement from year 3 to year 9 on a 10‑band scale.

The common scale through years 3, 5, 7 and 9 allowed us to monitor the results of all students. The scale was divided into 10 bands to cover the full range of student achievement in the tests. These bands mapped the increasing complexity of the skills NAPLAN assesses.

NAPLAN reporting used 6 bands at each year level. Student achievement usually fell between these ranges:

• year 3: bands 1 to 6
• year 5: bands 3 to 8
• year 7: bands 4 to 9
• year 9: bands 5 to 10.

Read about our methodology.