NAPLAN results in, progress shown

The 2025 NAPLAN National Report released this week shows some positive progress, with more still to be done to lift literacy and numeracy outcomes across the state.

The NAPLAN National Results were released by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). It also showed that participation rates across all years and domains have rebounded to pre-COVID levels, reaching 93.8 per cent – the highest level since 2017.

This year, students in Years 5, 7 and 9 were the first cohort to complete a second NAPLAN cycle under the new proficiency levels first introduced in 2023.

For NSW schools, results in 2025 are stable compared to previous years, with students showing strengths in areas including:

– Year 5 reading up 4.9 percentage points in strong and exceeding compared to the same cohort’s Year 3 results in 2023;

– Year 5 spelling up 6.3 percentage points in strong and exceeding compared to the same cohort’s Year 3 results in 2023;

– Year 7 spelling up 3.6 percentage points in strong and exceeding compared to the same 2023 cohort in Year 5;

– Year 5 grammar and punctuation up 7.4 percentage points in strong and exceeding compared to the same 2023 cohort in Year 3;

The results show many students in NSW are exceeding the national average in writing, reading, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and

numeracy. The results also show where continued and consistent support is required, particularly in Years 5, 7 and 9 writing and Years 7 and 9 reading.

Acting Minister for Education and Early Learning Courtney Houssos congratulated all the students across NSW who participated in NAPLAN testing this year.

“Especially those at more than 300 schools in the state’s north who did so in the face of extreme weather conditions,” she said

“Students, families and teachers across NSW should feel proud of these results – and know that where there are gaps, we are focused on supporting schools and teachers to close them.

“These results show NSW continuing to perform strongly against national benchmarks, and identify areas that require attention.”

Years 5, 7 and 9 students who participated in NAPLAN 2025 are the first students to have completed two assessments since the introduction of the new proficiency levels in 2023. This means additional data on student growth is included in the 2025 NAPLAN National Results.

This year’s NAPLAN data also shows that, at the national level, proportions within proficiency levels were broadly stable between 2023 and 2025, although there were small increases and decreases across domains and year groups.