Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students achieve their full learning potential.

By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (aged 20–24 years) attaining Year 12 or equivalent qualification to 96%.

At or above National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) minimum standards in reading, writing and numeracy for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

There are three measures for this indicator.

Measure 1 is the proportion of students achieving a NAPLAN reading proficiency of developing, strong or exceeding in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9:

and is presented as a percentage.

Measure 2 is the proportion of students achieving a NAPLAN writing proficiency of developing, strong or exceeding in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9:

and is presented as a percentage.

Measure 3 is the proportion of students achieving a NAPLAN numeracy proficiency of developing, strong or exceeding in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9:

and is presented as a percentage.

National Agreement on Closing the Gap July 2020

18 November 2024

Driver

A high or increasing proportion is desirable.

Name: National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN).

Frequency: Annual

Documentation (links): https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/results-and-reports#proficiency-scales-standards

Provider name: Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).

Provider area: Reporting

2023

2024

State and territory and Australia, by Indigenous status, by year of schooling, by NAPLAN proficiency level

There is no discrete numerator and denominator for this measure. ACARA calculate percentages. Due to the complexities of the methodology, it is not possible to give a simple computation.

Counting rules

NAPLAN results are reported using measurement scales for each of the assessment areas. The NAPLAN proficiencies include four levels for each assessment area at each year level:

• Exceeding: the student’s result exceeds expectations at the time of testing.
• Strong: the student’s result meets challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing.
• Developing: the student’s result indicates that they are working towards expectations at the time of testing.
• Needs additional support: the student’s result indicates that they are not achieving the learning outcomes expected at the time of testing. They are likely to need additional support to progress satisfactorily.

The proficiency levels are set at a challenging but reasonable expectation of what students know and can do at the time of testing. Each of the proficiency levels represents increasingly challenging skills and understandings as students move through the years of schooling.

Geographical variables are based on the location of the school the students attended at the time of NAPLAN testing.

A student is considered to be 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander' if he or she identifies as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin.

Includes (denominator):

Students who were exempt from the NAPLAN proficiency level ratings. (Students with a language background other than English, who arrived from overseas less than a year before the tests, and students with significant disabilities may be exempted from testing.) Exempt students were not assessed.

Excludes (both numerator and denominator):

• students for whom Indigenous status was not stated.

A new NAPLAN time series – reporting against the NAPLAN ‘proficiency levels’ – began in 2023. National minimum standards were used in NAPLAN between 2008 and 2022 to represent minimum performance standards in literacy and numeracy for a given year level, below which students would have difficulty progressing satisfactorily at school. Results from 2023 on cannot be directly compared to results from 2008 to 2022.

Prior to 2023, the national minimum standard provided an approximate measure of how many students needed additional support but identified too few of these students. It could also give the impression that a student had met learning expectations if they were above the national minimum standard. Reporting by proficiency standard under the Measurement Framework for Schooling in Australia is under development.

NAPLAN results reported on the Closing the Gap dashboard are reported as the proportion of students achieving the Developing, Strong or Exceeding levels for reading, writing and numeracy. Analysis of NAPLAN achievement by each proficiency level, or alternative proficiency groupings (for example ‘Strong or Exceeding’), should be considered, depending on the policy question being considered. Data for all proficiency levels are reported in the figures and material for download to enable these analyses.

The new proficiency level, Needs additional support, is a better representation of students who are not achieving the learning outcomes expected at the time of testing. The Needs additional support proficiency level is intended to identify students who are at risk of not progressing satisfactorily at school. Students with results in other levels may also need support in particular areas. Those in the Developing level are likely to need more support than those in the Exceeding and Strong levels.

Readers are urged to be cautious when comparing proficiency level data between jurisdictions and/or over time. ACARA reports on the statistical significance of differences in NAPLAN achievement (mean scores) to ensure that reported differences are not merely caused by chance but reflect real differences. However, statistical significance of differences in the NAPLAN proficiency levels are not available.

The proportion of participating students varies across jurisdictions. Nationally, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation rates are below 90% across all year levels and NAPLAN domains. Readers are urged to be cautious when comparing these results, as low NAPLAN participation may bias the results. Student participation in NAPLAN testing in reading, writing and numeracy for years 3, 5, 7 and 9, by Indigenous status and state and territory, is presented in table SE5c.4.

To calculate the proficiency level data in national reports, ACARA replaces the missing values for non-participating students (such as students who were absent or withdrawn) with plausible values (based on the results of similar participating students – a process known as imputation).

States and territories have different school starting ages resulting in differing average age of students at the time of testing.

The data presented is rounded to one decimal place. Summing across multiple categories may result in different values to other published data sources.

Future reporting will seek to include the following additional disaggregations:

• remoteness areas
• socio-economic status of the locality
• gender
• disability status.