Statement from Minister Grace regarding NAPLAN results

Education Minister Grace Grace said NAPLAN results published today show that Queensland students performed strongly during a school year disrupted by the pandemic and floods.

“I would like to congratulate all 250,000 Queensland students who participated in NAPLAN, and thank the teachers, school staff, parents and carers who supported them through the process.

“Queensland continues to be one of the big academic improvers since NAPLAN began in 2008, and I am pleased to see the continued improvement of Queensland students’ writing results.

“It is important to remember NAPLAN is only one of the tools used for monitoring students’ progress and assessing their areas of strength and development.

“It is a point-in-time check and is only one of many assessments students undertake to monitor and track their progress.

“I do have concerns that the lower participation rates for NAPLAN this year have had an impact on the data. We know the preliminary NAPLAN results couldn’t be published as planned in August for this very reason.

“I am also concerned about all the washing of the data that takes place and what this means for the reliability of the results which I hope to raise at the next Education Ministers’ meeting.

“While NAPLAN is not the be all and end all, it is troubling to see a national trend of performance plateauing or declining in some areas, which is being seen in Queensland too.

“This makes our new Equity and Excellence strategy, which is currently out for consultation, all the more important.

“Equity and Excellence provides a clear focus on improving educational outcomes, particularly in English and Mathematics, and ensuring students get all the support they need to succeed.”

Read more about Equity and Excellence here

ENDS

Media contact: Kate Talbot, 0439 803 211