Media release – Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), 14 August 2024

Latest data shows 2024 NAPLAN national results broadly stable

Findings from the NAPLAN National Results released today by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) show that results at a national level were similar to the results in 2023.

The data shows that while there were small increases and decreases across domains and year levels, overall the results were broadly stable.

“These results are a testament to the hard work and commitment of schools, principals and teachers, as well as students themselves,” said ACARA’s CEO Stephen Gniel.

“Over the last 2 years, schools have adjusted to both the earlier timing of the NAPLAN tests and the changed reporting system with new proficiency standards. The fact that the results of Australian students have remained stable through these changes, with no significant difference in average scores, is an important achievement.

“The 2024 results continue to show strong performance fromAustralian students in literacy and numeracy. However, they also provide clear information on areas requiring our collective focus and effort for improvement.The challenges remain with supporting those students identified in the ‘Needs additional support’ category and tackling the ongoingeducational disparities for students from non-urban areas, First Nations Australian heritage and those with low socio-educational backgrounds.”

Mr Gniel noted that caution must be exercised in trying to interpret any clear trends at this early stage of reporting against the new measurement scale and proficiency levels introduced last year.

“We have 2 years of data and, this year, a new cohort of students took part in the NAPLAN assessments. National data rarely shows any significant change over a single year. The trends in NAPLAN data are likely to take several years to emerge as they start to show differences from both the immediately preceding year and the base year of 2023,” he added.

Nationally, NAPLAN participation rates have held steady, increasing on the 2023 average by 0.1 percentage points across all years and domains to 93.4%.

“The overall increase in participation is a positive, consolidating on last year’s bounce back in NAPLAN participation rates and continuing the reversal of thedownward trend evident in recent years. We need to acknowledge the work of parents and carers in supporting our teachers and schools by understanding the importance of the NAPLAN assessments in their children’s educational progress and development,”said Mr Gniel.

 The key highlights from this year’s NAPLAN National Results are:

  • In reading, the average proportion of students who achieved at “Exceeding” and “Strong” levels in 2024 was 67.0%, increasing from Year 3 (66.3%) to Year 5 (71.4%), then dropping in Year 7 (67.3%) and in Year 9 (63.0%).
  • In reading, the average proportion of students who achieved at “Needs additional support” levels in 2024 was 10.3%, decreasing from Year 3 (11.3%) to Year 5 (8.7%), and increasing in Year 7 (10.2%) and Year 9 (11.1%).
  • In numeracy, the average proportion of students who achieved at “Exceeding” and “Strong” levels in 2024 was 65.5%, increasing from Year 3 (63.5%) to Year 5 (67.8%), remaining relatively stable in in Year 7 (67.2%) and then dropping in Year 9 (63.4%).
  • In numeracy, the average proportion of students who achieved at “Needs additional support” levels in 2024 was 9.5%, decreasing from Year 3 (9.7%) to Year 5 (8.6%), increasing again in Year 7 (9.4%) and Year 9 (10.4%).
  • On participation rates:
  • For primary years, it remained unchanged at 95.1%. For secondary years, it increased from 91.6% to 91.7%.
  • National participation rates ranged from 88.6% (Year 9 numeracy) to 95.9% (Year 5 reading).

Demographic results reflect trends in other national assessments and previous NAPLAN results, with female students outperforming male students in literacy, and higher results tending to align with students from the highest socio-educational backgrounds, in urban areas and from non-Indigenous backgrounds.

  • Nationally, a higher proportion of Indigenous students need additional support compared to the overall student population. For example, across all year groups:
  • in reading, around one in 3 of Indigenous students (33.7%) are in the “Needs additional support” level while fewer than one in 10 of non-indigenous students (8.6%) fall into that proficiency level
  • in numeracy, one in 3 Indigenous students (33.3%) are in the “Needs additional support” level while fewer than one in 10 non-Indigenous students (7.7%) fall into that proficiency level.
  • A lower proportion of students in very remote schools are rated as “Strong” or “Exceeding” compared with students in major city schools. For example, across all year groups:
  • in reading, 24.0% of students from very remote schools are in this category, compared to 70.7% of students from major city schools
  • in numeracy, 22.4% of students from very remote schools are in this category, compared to 69.3% of students from major city schools.
  • Female students outperformed male students in writing, achieving average NAPLAN scores above boys in every year group, with higher percentages of female students at “Strong” or “Exceeding” levels, notably 73.1% of female students compared to 58.0% of male students in Year 7 and 69.2% of female students compared to 53.1% of male students in Year 9.
  • Male students generally outperformed female students in numeracy. There were 5.9% fewer female students in Year 3 and 6.7% fewer female students in Year 5 achieving in the “Exceeding” level compared to male students.

To access the full 2024 NAPLAN National Results, including information about the socio-educational profile of each jurisdiction, please visit: www.acara.edu.au/naplanresults.

Media release – Jo Palmer, Minister for Education, 14 August 2024

NAPLAN 2024 National Results Released

The NAPLAN National Results, released today, show the Tasmanian Government’s commitment to improving literacy and numeracy outcomes is starting to pay off.

The NAPLAN 2024 test was successfully delivered to around 26,000 Tasmanian students across all educational sectors in Term 1, 2024.

NAPLAN provides a national measure to support all Tasmanian schools in understanding student progress in their learning and identify areas for system, school and classroom focus.

Tasmania’s NAPLAN 2024 results were statistically comparable to 2023 in every year level. In reading, Tasmania’s results matched those of the Australian national average.

Minister for Education, Jo Palmer, said while the results were promising, it’s important not to rely on NAPLAN data as the only benchmark for learning.

“While NAPLAN is useful in providing a big picture snapshot of educational progress in literacy and numeracy, it has limited capacity to provide insight into individual student educational progress and development,” Minister Palmer said.

“This year’s national results are pleasing, but we know there is still more work to be done, particularly in supporting students identified in the ‘Needs additional support’ category.

“We want to identify those learners as early as possible and make sure they have the support they need, which is why schools use additional assessments, including Progressive Achievement Tests across Prep to Year 10, to monitor reading and mathematics progress.”

The Tasmanian Government is taking a comprehensive approach to lifting literacy in our state, so that every young person, as far as is possible, can read when they leave our school system.

As part of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future, we’re delivering evidence based structured literacy in 25 per cent of all Government primary schools in 2024, increasing to 100 per cent by 2026.

Schools are being supported to make transformational change to the way children are taught to read through professional learning sessions, resources and collaboration with educational experts and sectors.

By 2026, all students across all school years will be taught to read in a structured, systematic, and explicit way, within a framework that ensures every student gets appropriate additional literacy support when they need it.

Teachers and leaders are being supported to embed a system-wide, focused effort to improve numeracy outcomes through specific and targeted curriculum resources for teaching and assessment of mathematics.

The Department of Education and Children and Young People’s Numeracy Framework and five-point Numeracy Plan for Action 2021-2025 both have a clear focus on the teaching and learning of mathematics, so learners can continue to improve their numeracy knowledge and skills to set them up for a bright future.

Media release – Vica Bayley MP, Greens Education spokesperson, 14 August 2024

NAPLAN results another wakeup call on school funding

Another year, another set of terrible NAPLAN results for Tasmania, and another round of finger pointing from State and Federal governments. Tasmania deserves better.

It’s important to acknowledge teachers and other school staff are doing their best to deliver quality education to our students, under increasingly difficult circumstances. These results aren’t a reflection on them – they’re a reflection on the politicians who consistently refuse to do what it takes to improve education experiences and outcomes.

We have a federal Labor government and a state Liberal government who are both refusing to fund schools to the level that’s needed. They keep blaming each other for the problems, but neither are doing what they should be. The result is a $120 million shortfall for school funding in Tasmania this year alone.*

More money for schools isn’t the answer to every problem, and there’s much more we need to do. But without first funding our schools to the level they need, we’re never going to get anywhere on all the other areas of improvement.

Quality education is critical to give children the best start in life, to tackle inequality, and to make our society a better place. It’s time for the federal Labor and state Liberal government to finally step up, and to give our schools the funding support they need.

Tasmanian students and their schools deserve the funding they need to thrive and turn around the academic and retention results that have us languishing behind the rest of the country. The Greens will be analysing the upcoming Tasmanian budget closely, and fear significant cuts to education at a time we can least afford it.

*https://aeutas.org.au/new-research-shows-the-urgent-need-for-full-funding-of-tasmanian-public-schools/ 

Media release – Australian Education Union (AEU), 14 August 2024

NAPLAN shows Minister must rule out budget cuts and secure full federal funding

The latest NAPLAN results provide yet more evidence that the Education Minister Jo Palmer must rule out any budget cuts to public education and secure a deal with the Commonwealth that fully funds schools, the Australian Education Union (AEU) said today.

“NAPLAN is just one measure of student achievement but the trends show a widening gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students, which underpins the urgent need for full funding,” said David Genford, AEU Tasmania President.

“Tasmania has the highest level of disadvantage of any state and needs investment and a solution the staffing crisis – not cuts,” said Mr Genford.

We welcome the Minister’s commitment to no budget cuts for schools, but any cuts, reductions, freezes or “efficiencies” anywhere in education must be ruled out.

“The impact of cuts, or so-called efficiency dividends, in the Education Department would ripple all the way to our already underfunded classrooms, further disadvantaging the most vulnerable students,” Mr Genford said.

Minister Palmer must hold firm in negotiations with the Commonwealth for a new funding deal that at least will deliver the full amount of Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) to public schools.

“If the Albanese government are actually serious about improving education outcomes, they need to come to the table with a funding deal for Tasmania that is similar to the Northern Territory’s,” said Mr Genford.

The Federal government are demanding Aboriginal student outcomes to match those of non-Indigenous students yet NAPLAN results show the numbers of First Nations students assessed at the “needs additional support” level in reading (34%) and numeracy (33%) are almost four times higher than those of non-Indigenous students.

“Educators strongly support equity in education, but lifting student outcomes will require substantial investment in Tasmania where 9.8 percent of students identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, the highest proportion of students outside of the NT,” said Mr Genford.

“Anything less than full funding, and anything less than 25% of that funding coming from the Federal government, would mean the Albanese government have broken their election promise to the students, families and educators of Tasmania,” he said.

Tasmanian children and educators are relying on the State government to continue holding the Federal government to their promises, but this also means they need to do their part,” said Mr Genford “That means closing funding loopholes that shortchange schools and delivering the resources our students need.”

Media release – Dean Winter MP, Labor Leader; Sarah Lovell MLC, Shadow Minister for Education, 14 August 2024

NAPLAN results further proof Tasmania can’t afford Liberal-Lambie education cuts and delays

Great education gives young Tasmanians access to well paid, safe, and secure jobs.

The latest NAPLAN results show Tasmanian students continue to be let down by the State Government, with results below the national average across all areas. Results like these mean young Tasmanians are not getting the opportunities they deserve to excel in learning and life.

After 10 years in Government, the Liberals need to accept responsibility for these outcomes.

This is further proof that Tasmania’s education system can’t afford the Liberal-Lambie budget cuts. If the $300 million efficiency dividend is applied across departments proportionate to their total budget allocation, education will see $75 million of cuts across the next three years. That is totally unacceptable given these results.

We are yet to see the terms of reference for the independent inquiry into Tasmania’s education system. If the Government intend to complete the inquiry by the end of 2024 as promised, they need to get moving.

The terms of reference need to be agreed with stakeholders, especially those on the frontline of our education system, and released so that Tasmanians can contribute to this important inquiry.