The National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests are conducted in May for all students across Australia in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Each year, over one million students nationally sit the NAPLAN tests. All students in the same year level are assessed on the same test items in the assessment domains of reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

NAPLAN data provide parents, schools, governments and the non-government school sectors with important information about whether young Australians are reaching important educational goals.

NAPLAN tests are the only Australian assessments that provide nationally comparable data on the performance of students in the vital areas of literacy and numeracy. This gives NAPLAN a unique role in providing robust data to inform and support improvements to teaching and learning practices in Australian schools.

NAPLAN tests are equated so that the 2017 results can be compared with those from previous years and reported on the same achievement scale. As with all statistical calculations, the NAPLAN statistics in this report include some degree of uncertainty and this should be considered when interpreting any differences.