This report examines the relevance of the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR). Reflecting on its purpose, the analysis asks, for whom is it working; is its use changing; and what are the implications for national education policy objectives. It finds three in ten school leavers are now admitted to university without reference to an ATAR.

A discussion paper reviewing the Disability Standards for Education 2005 to make sure they are supporting students to access and participate in education and training. The Standards are for education and training providers and explain how education must be inclusive for students with disability and help providers follow the Disability Discrimination Act.

The commentaries highlight Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 NAPLAN results for 2025, nationally and by selected subgroups. Girls continue to outperform boys in literacy and boys continue to outperform girls in numeracy at all year levels. Higher levels of parental education and occupation continue to be associated with higher NAPLAN performance in all domains.

This report is a contribution to the NSW Education Standards Authority’s (NESA) work in assessing options for improving the New South Wales Higher School Certificate (HSC). It notes key strengths of the HSC and provides four options for incremental improvements to the HSC.

This highlights report summarises the key findings from Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), an international study of Year 4 and Year 8 students. Australian year 4 students have achieved best-ever results in both science and maths, performing in the top 10 of participating countries.