Minister sends best wishes ahead of earlier NAPLAN

Published Tuesday, 14 March, 2023 at 10:27 AM

Minister for Education, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Racing
The Honourable Grace Grace

  • 280,000 Queensland students from Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will sit NAPLAN this year
  • The testing window is from Wednesday 15 to Monday 27 March
  • Earlier NAPLAN means earlier results, ensuring students who need extra support can get it sooner
  • Students are encouraged to relax, stay calm, and just focus on doing their best

Around 280,000 Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 Queensland students from more than 1,800 state and
non-state schools will complete NAPLAN testing online from Wednesday 15 March through to Monday 27 March.

NAPLAN testing is one of the tools designed to help provide information about how students are progressing in the development of core literacy and numeracy skills.

Under changes agreed to by all Education Ministers, NAPLAN now takes place in Term 1 to provide earlier access to test results, which will help better inform teaching and learning for the rest of the year.

There will also be four new achievement standards to identify where a student is currently at in terms of their literacy and numeracy, replacing the previous 10 band reporting structure. The new standards are Exceeding, Strong, Developing, and Needs Additional Support. This reduction to only four levels will help simplify the data, so parents can look forward to earlier and clearer reports.

NAPLAN is just one of the many ways student progress is monitored to support high quality education delivery.

Quotes attributable to Minister Grace:

“I wish all Queensland students the very best of luck with NAPLAN, but I want to remind everyone: NAPLAN is not the be all and end all.

“NAPLAN is simply a point in time test and is just one of many ways that schools can assess their students’ progress and identify if extra support is required.

“Sitting any exam can naturally create a few nerves, but I encourage students to get a good night’s sleep, relax, stay calm, and just focus on doing their best.

“I thank our hardworking teachers and school staff for your work teaching essential literacy and numeracy skills to our students.

“I’d also like to acknowledge our parents, carers and the wider school community for the support they provide to our students every single day.”

ENDS

Media contact: Daniel Webb, 0438 401 078