National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests are held in May each year for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Parents or carers of students who sit for the NAPLAN tests will receive a written report of their child's achievement in September. NAPLAN tests the sorts of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. It is important to remember that NAPLAN tests are not pass/ fail tests. At the classroom level it is one of a number of important tools used by teachers to measure student progress.
Detailed information for Parents and carers can be found in the Parent Brochure (PDF 325KB). Details relating to understanding your child's NAPLAN report can be found in the Student Report Brochure (PDF 317KB).
Sample Tests have been provided so that students can get a sense of the 'look and feel' of the tests and to understand what types of questions are asked., NAPLAN tests are not tests that students can 'prepare' for and previous NAPLAN tests are not available. Below is a set of sample tests and answers for each of the domains contained in the NAPLAN Examinations.
Example NAPLAN writing prompts: City or country (1MB) , The Box (960KB).
See also information about assessing the writing task.
Note: the writing topic assigned to Years 7 and 9 will differ from the topic assigned to Years 3 and 5. However, the genre (narrative or persuasive) for all years will be the same and all students will be required to produce writing of the same text type.
Example NAPLAN writing prompts: City or country (1MB) , The Box (960KB).
See also information about assessing the writing task.
Note: the writing topic assigned to Years 7 and 9 will differ from the topic assigned to Years 3 and 5. However, the genre (narrative or persuasive) for all years will be the same and all students will be required to produce writing of the same text type.
Definitions of Participation
Withdrawn students
Students may be withdrawn from one or more tests by their parent/carer, following consultation with the principal.
Exempt students
Students may be exempted from one or more of the tests (i.e. Reading, Writing, Language Conventions, or Numeracy).There are two categories for exemption.
Parent withdrawals are intended to address issues such as religious beliefs and philosophical objections to testing.
- English language proficiency: Students with a language background other than English, who arrived from overseas and have been attending school in Australia for less than a year before test week, should be given the opportunity to participate in the tests, but may be exempted.
- Students with disability: Students with significant intellectual disability and/or those with significant co-existing conditions which severely limit their capacity to participate in the tests may be exempted.
Exemption must be discussed with the school principal. Students may be withdrawn from the testing program by their parent/carer if there are religious beliefs or philosophical objections to testing. This is a matter for consideration by individual parents/carers in consultation with their child's school. A formal application in the manner specified by the relevant test administration authority (TAA) must be received by the principal prior to the testing.