What is NAPLAN test?
The NAPLAN exam is an annual standardised test given to one million Australian students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9. The exam measures the literacy and numeracy skills of students against national benchmarks.  NAPLAN tests were introduced in 2008, and since 2010 they have been administered by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority(ACARA).
The NAPLAN assessment comprises four tests students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 take annually over two days in March. The NAPLAN test covers reading, writing, language conventions, and numeracy. Each student gets a separate score for each test. It's not a pass/fail test. Rather, the assessment results are used to pinpoint areas of improvement for individual students, schools, and education systems.
NAPLAN will be held in March every year from 2023 onwards. It will always start on the second Wednesday of the month. All year levels will have to do a writing test on the first day of the NAPLAN testing period (9 days total). If any students are absent on the day their class is doing the tests, they can sit for catch-up tests later during the testing period.
The items on the NAPLAN tests are based on what students have learned in the previous year and what they will learn in the year of testing. Some items may require knowledge from the year after the test, but only if students can solve them logically and they are not dependent on new concepts that have not been taught yet. This ensures that all students have a chance to show what they know on the test.
NAPLAN Writing Test and Changes from 2017
The NAPLAN Writing Test is designed to assess a range of writing skills. All students receive the same text type or genre of writing task, regardless of their year level. The test features a writing stimulus, which can be an idea or topic, and students are asked to respond in a particular text type. Different prompts are used depending on the testing day and student year level. The writing prompts target the full range of student capabilities expected of students from Years 3 to 9. The NAPLAN writing test features various writing prompts for all year levels. The type or genre of the writing test will not be revealed before the test, so students must be prepared to write either a narrative or persuasive response. Marking will be based on the relevant NAPLAN marking guides for each type of Writing Test Prompt.
There are three main types of texts that students learn to write: texts that evoke feelings, convey information, or form ideas. Through these types of texts, students learn how to write for a variety of purposes, such as to entertain, persuade, or argue.
Texts that use language to represent, explore and recreate human experiences in real and imagined worlds are commonly referred to as imaginative or narrative sub-genres. These include, but are not limited to, short stories, fairy tales, fables, anecdotes, novels, plays, poetry, personal letters and illustrated books.
An information text is writing that relays facts and data about a certain subject. This could be something like a report, description or even an explanation. Information texts are usually void of emotion or opinion, focusing on delivering accurate details about the topic. These include, but are not limited to, recounts, reports, descriptions, biographies, explanations, transactional texts, news articles and features.
Argumentative texts seek to persuade an audience by presenting a point of view. This can be done through different mediums such as debating, writing letters to influential people, reviews or even advertisements.
There have been no significant changes to the NAPLAN writing tests or marking guides from 2017. As in past years, students will be asked to write a narrative or persuasive response to a writing prompt. Students in Years 5, 7 and 9 will undertake all NAPLAN tests online, whereas Year 3 students will complete the writing on paper.
A range of editing tools will be available during the NAPLAN writing assessment, so students can copy, cut, paste and move text. However, spelling and grammar checks (autocorrect) will be disabled on the NAPLAN testing platform. This is because these elements of students’ writing will be marked in the assessment.
NAPLAN Reading Test and Changes from 2017
The NAPLAN reading tests assess literacy skills in line with the Australian curriculum. Besides multiple-choice questions, there will be new types of questions like technology-enhanced, drag-and-drop and hot-text questions. The NAPLAN reading tests also use a range of text complexity similar to pre-2016 NAPLAN texts.
NAPLAN Conventions of Language Test and Changes from 2017
The NAPLAN conventions of language tests assess three areas: spelling, grammar, and punctuation. These tests are aligned with the Australian Curriculum for English.
There have been some changes to the NAPLAN test for 2017. In previous years, when words such as ‘noun’, ‘verb’, and ‘adjective’ were used, there was an explanation of the word in brackets. For example, ‘noun’ was followed by ‘naming word’. However, from 2017 onwards, these words will appear without an explanation.
Once the grammar and punctuation section of the online NAPLAN conventions of language test has begun, the spelling section becomes locked. This is to stop students from using words from the grammar and punctuation section to answer spelling questions. Furthermore, using a locked-down browser on student devices stops them from accessing unauthorised websites, applications and spell-checking features.
NAPLAN Numeracy Test and Changes from 2017
According to the national curriculum, NAPLAN numeracy tests evaluate Australian students' mathematical skills and understanding. The tests cover arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and statistics, assessing areas such as problem-solving ability and mathematical reasoning.
As of 2017, the number of numeracy items on the NAPLAN tests changed to be more in line with the expectations set by the Australian curriculum. This shift meant that there are now slightly fewer questions on geometry (for example, identifying features of 2D shapes and 3D objects) and more questions on numbers, statistics, and probability than there were on tests given before 2017.
The number of items on the Year 3 test increased from 35 to 36 questions. The number of items on the Year 5 test increased from 40 to 42 questions. However, for Year 7 and Year 9, the number of items on the numeracy test was reduced from 64questions to 48 questions. Year 7 and Year 9 students sit one numeracy test with two parts: a calculator-allowed section and a non-calculator section.However, even though the non-calculator section is shorter, the number of questions requiring mental calculation remains unchanged across the test. The Years 7 and 9 numeracy test has a section that can only be completed with a calculator. Once the student starts the non-calculator section, they can't go back. This can be difficult for some students, so it's important to be prepared before starting the test.
Do you want to start preparing for a NAPLAN exam? See our practice tests available to get started.
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