Allan government won’t push for better results in NAPLAN testing

Victoria’s latest NAPLAN results showed a concerning dip in reading and numerical proficiency, but it seems not even that is enough to motivate the state government to aim for higher standards in testing.

The State Government has refused to aim for nine out of ten students reaching high standards in NAPLAN tests recommended by a key bipartisan parliamentary committee.

The government’s own targets are less than half as high, with educators instead working towards one third to one half of students reaching the top performance levels in numeracy and literacy.

The number one recommendation from the Legislative Council’s Legal and Social Issues Committee was for schools to aim for 90 per cent of students achieving the top two NAPLAN bands of “exceeding” and “strong”.

The committee – which includes Labor figures such as Ryan Batchelor – received more than 270 submissions from experts, teachers and parents for its inquiry into the state education system.

The state government has refused to aim for nine out of ten students reaching high standards in NAPLAN tests. Picture: File image

The government’s response to the inquiry commits instead to reducing the proportion of students in the NAPLAN “needs additional support category” by ten per cent and increasing the percentage of those in the “exceeding” category by ten per cent.

This follows the national adoption of the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement which ties funding to lifting NAPLAN outcomes, among other goals.

The government will also continue with its own NAPLAN benchmarks, which include aiming for 35 per cent of students to be in the top categories for year 5 numeracy, 45 per cent for year 5 reading and 46 per cent for year 3 numeracy.

Despite claims about the high performance of Victorian pupils in NAPLAN, students consistently fail to meet the government’s own benchmarks around half of the time.

Victoria’s latest NAPLAN results show up to one in three students are not proficient in reading or numeracy, with the committee’s report noting that “more work needs to be done to curtail the widening gaps between high and low performing cohorts”.

The report said the 90 per cent target would “encourage focused efforts on enhancing teaching quality, providing targeted support for students, and implementing evidence‑based educational strategies to ensure more students reach higher levels of proficiency”.

Students consistently fail to meet the government’s own NAPLAN benchmarks around half of the time. Picture: File image

It also noted that it is “difficult to deduce from NAPLAN results how the state school system – the focus of this Inquiry – is performing”.

NAPLAN scales changed from ten to four performance bands in 2023, making long-term comparisons difficult.

A Department of Education spokesman said that in 2024, “Victoria was the top performing jurisdiction in the primary sector, where we were the highest or second-highest performing jurisdiction in 8 out of the 10 measures”.

“We know there is more to be done, which is why we have introduced a new mandated teaching and learning model, including the use of systematic synthetic phonics to teach reading,” he said.

Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said the rejection of the key committee recommendation meant “the Allan Labor Government is avoiding accountability and denying students the world-class education they deserve”.

“Labor cannot manage our education system and Victorian students are paying the price.”

The 2025 NAPLAN test period ended on March 31, with more than 1.3 million students taking more than 4.5 million online tests.