Analysis of Year 7 NAPLAN Results 2025

What is the NAPLAN?

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a nationwide assessment conducted annually in Australia for students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9. It tests foundational skills in reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation), and numeracy.

NAPLAN is not a test of content knowledge, but rather a measure of how well students can apply skills in literacy and numeracy that are developed over time through the school curriculum. The results are used by governments, schools, and educators to evaluate educational programs and track student progress at a national level.

Why is it done at Year 7?

Year 7 marks a pivotal transition for Australian students—from primary school to secondary education. Conducting NAPLAN at this stage provides a valuable snapshot of students' foundational literacy and numeracy skills as they enter a more independent and complex learning environment.

The Year 7 assessment serves several key purposes:

• Benchmarking after primary school: It helps measure whether students have retained and can apply the literacy and numeracy skills developed in Years 3 to 6. This includes reading comprehension, writing structure, grammar conventions, and mathematical problem-solving.
• Early identification of learning gaps: By testing early in high school, educators and schools can identify students who may need additional support before the curriculum becomes more demanding.
• Informing teaching strategies: Year 7 NAPLAN results allow secondary teachers to tailor their instruction, especially in core subjects like English and Mathematics, to suit the needs of incoming students.
• Monitoring progress over time: The Year 7 test acts as the third checkpoint in the NAPLAN cycle (after Years 3 and 5), helping track individual student growth and system-level trends across their school years.

What are the proficiency levels?

As of 2023, NAPLAN results are reported using proficiency levels rather than numerical bands. These levels are designed to provide clearer insights into a student’s development and where they sit in relation to national expectations.

There are four proficiency levels:

1. Exceeding – The student demonstrates skills well above the expected level for their year.
2. Strong – The student demonstrates solid understanding and skills at or above expectations.
3. Developing – The student shows partial achievement but is not yet consistently meeting expectations.
4. Needs Additional Support – The student requires targeted teaching and support to meet expected skills.

These categories help teachers and parents better understand whether a student is on track, ahead, or in need of support.

Although there are no official benchmarks, most schools are aiming to have at least 66% of their students as “Strong” or “Exceeding”.

What domains are being assessed?

There are five domains that are assessed:

1. Reading: Assesses a student's ability to comprehend, interpret, and analyse a range of written texts, including narratives, information texts, and persuasive writing. Students are required to read passages and answer multiple-choice or short-answer questions based on the content.
2. Writing: Evaluates how well students can express ideas through written language. Students are given a prompt (either persuasive or narrative) and assessed on their ability to structure their ideas, use appropriate vocabulary, organise paragraphs, and apply correct grammar and punctuation.
3. Spelling: Measures students’ understanding of common spelling patterns and their ability to apply them correctly in written words. This helps identify their grasp of phonics, word structure, and spelling rules.
4. Grammar and Punctuation: Assesses students’ knowledge and correct use of sentence structure, verb agreement, capitalisation, commas, apostrophes, and other grammatical conventions necessary for clear written communication.
5. Numeracy: Tests students’ ability to solve problems using mathematical knowledge across number, algebra, measurement, geometry, and statistics. It includes both multiple-choice and short-answer questions, requiring reasoning and calculation.

What were the results in 2025?

Reading

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Year 7 Reading outcomes in 2025 reflect a continuing trend of strong performance in Australia’s eastern states. Victoria and the ACT led the nation, with average scores of 549.0 and 551.4 respectively—well above the national average of 538.4. New South Wales also performed strongly, improving to 545.1 in 2025.

The national average has rebounded after a slight dip in 2024, suggesting a return to pre-pandemic learning stability. Most states and territories either maintained or slightly improved their scores over the three-year period.

The Northern Territory remains a significant outlier, with scores stagnating at 466.6—over 70 points below top-performing states. This reflects enduring educational challenges, particularly in regional and remote areas. Meanwhile, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia hover just below the national benchmark, indicating consistent but slower progress.

Overall, while Australia continues to perform well in Year 7 Reading, the data underscores the need for targeted interventions to address persistent equity gaps.

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The national data reveals that most Year 7 students in Australia are achieving well in reading, with 69% placed in the Strong or Exceeding bands. Victoria leads with 74% of students in these higher bands, followed closely by the ACT (74.9%) and New South Wales (71.2%). These jurisdictions also boast the highest proportions of students in the Exceeding category, particularly the ACT at 25.5%.

Conversely, the Northern Territory continues to show significant educational disadvantage, with 34.7% of students needing additional support and only 9.2% achieving Exceeding. While Queensland, South Australia, and Tasmania perform close to the national average, they have larger proportions of students in the Developing or Needs Support categories.

These results highlight a generally strong national reading performance at Year 7, though persistent regional inequities remain a concern. Targeted support in underperforming jurisdictions is essential to close the achievement gap.

Writing

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Writing continues to show a mixed performance across the country. Victoria leads the nation with a consistent top score of 552.3 in both 2024 and 2025, reflecting strong systemic literacy support. New South Wales also demonstrates solid performance, sitting at 544.5 in 2025, while the ACT has seen a slight dip from its 2024 peak of 547.4 to 537.6 in 2025.

The national average slightly declined from 540.2 in 2024 to 538.3 in 2025, although it still remains above the 2023 level. South Australia stands out with steady improvement across all three years, reaching 533.2 in 2025.

On the lower end, the Northern Territory remains well below the national average, though it has shown a modest recovery from 446.9 in 2023 to 455.6 in 2025. Tasmania and Queensland also remain below the national mean but relatively stable.

Overall, Year 7 Writing scores show encouraging results at the top end, but highlight continued challenges in ensuring writing success is evenly distributed across the states and territories.

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Nationally, around 64% of students achieved at the Strong or Exceeding level in writing. Victoria stands out with the highest proportion of students in the top bands (70.1%), while the Northern Territory lags behind with only 40% of students achieving Strong or better, and a concerning 35.6% requiring additional support. States like New South Wales and the ACT perform above the national average, while Queensland and Tasmania show relatively lower proportions in the higher proficiency levels.

Spelling

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New South Wales continues to lead in spelling, reaching a high of 551.3 in 2025. Victoria and the ACT also show steady gains, with scores above the national average of 541.6. Meanwhile, the Northern Territory remains significantly below all other states, though it has seen slight improvement over the three years. Tasmania and Queensland trail just below the national line, with relatively flat trends. Overall, spelling outcomes show strong and stable performance nationally, with steady upward movement across most jurisdictions.

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Spelling proficiency is relatively strong nationwide, with most jurisdictions having over 70% of students performing at Strong or Exceeding levels. New South Wales leads with 76.2% of students achieving in the top two bands, followed closely by Western Australia, Victoria, and the ACT. The Northern Territory remains a clear outlier, with only 46.5% in the top bands and a concerning 31.9% requiring additional support. These results underscore consistent excellence in spelling across most states, with targeted intervention still needed in underperforming regions.

Grammar and punctuation

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New South Wales continues to lead nationally, reaching a high of 548.2 in 2025. Victoria and the ACT also perform strongly, maintaining scores above 540. The national average has recovered slightly in 2025 to 538.9, after dipping in 2024. The Northern Territory remains well below all other states, though it saw a minor rebound from its 2024 low. Overall, grammar and punctuation scores are trending steadily, with strong performance in most jurisdictions but persistent disparities needing attention.

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Across Australia, nearly two-thirds of students are achieving at the Strong or Exceeding levels. New South Wales and Victoria lead in top-end performance, with 65.6% and 65.5% respectively. The ACT also performs strongly with 65.9% in the top bands. Conversely, the Northern Territory continues to struggle, with 43.8% of students needing additional support or exempt. Most other states hover around the national average, highlighting both areas of excellence and regions requiring additional support.

Numeracy

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New South Wales and Victoria lead the nation in numeracy, both achieving outstanding 2025 scores of 555.2 and 555.0 respectively. The ACT also maintains a strong trajectory, reaching 550.5. The national average has steadily risen to 544.9 in 2025, suggesting general improvement across the board. The Northern Territory continues to trail well behind the other states, highlighting a persistent and significant performance gap. Most other jurisdictions, including Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia, show consistent but modest growth.

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Victoria and New South Wales show the strongest numeracy outcomes, with over 70% of students achieving either "Strong" or "Exceeding" levels. The ACT also performs well with 72.7% in the top two bands. In contrast, the Northern Territory continues to show significant challenges, with over a third of students needing additional support and only 39.9% reaching the upper bands. Tasmania also lags behind the national average. Overall, while national results are relatively strong, regional disparities persist.

Final thoughts

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Australia’s Year 7 students demonstrate solid literacy outcomes — particularly in Reading and Spelling — and moderate success in Numeracy and Grammar. However, Writing continues to be a persistent weakness across all jurisdictions, signalling a need for stronger support in developing coherent, expressive, and complex writing as students progress into high school.

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