WA students lead NAPLAN improvement

National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) 2012 data released today shows Western Australian students have continued their trend of improvement in the five years since national literacy and numeracy tests began.

  • WA tops nation in NAPLAN improvement since 2008
  • Overall performance remains steady from last year

National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) 2012 data released today shows Western Australian students have continued their trend of improvement in the five years since national literacy and numeracy tests began.


Following today's release of the NAPLAN 2012 National Summary Report, Education Minister Peter Collier said WA students had since 2008 recorded the most statistically significant increases of any jurisdiction in Australia.


"The report shows of the 16 assessments that can be compared from 2008, WA students have improved significantly in 11 of the testing areas during this time, and there are no notable declines in the remaining five assessment areas," Mr Collier said.


"The continuation of this upward trend in student performance is encouraging, and I thank teachers throughout the State for maintaining their focus on literacy and numeracy so our standards continue to improve."


The Minister said that in 2011, WA students had recorded their highest-ever rankings, and this performance was consolidated in the 2012 testing.


"Our students were ranked as high as second in the nation on the year 7 persuasive writing assessment this year," he said.


"There is also evidence in the results to suggest the Liberal-National Government's focus on literacy and numeracy in the crucial early years of children's lives is paying dividends.


"For example, the results for WA year 3 students in reading, spelling, grammar and punctuation assessments are among those which have improved significantly since 2008."


More detailed information about WA's results will be released with the full report later this year.

     Fact File

  • Preliminary summary report released by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority available at http://www.nap.edu.au/
  • Individual school data to be available early in December at http://www.education.wa.edu.au
  • Parents to receive their children's individual NAPLAN reports by end of Term 3

Minister's office - 6552 6300