The 2021 NAPLAN National Report has been released, confirming the preliminary summary information published in August 2021 that, at a national and state/territory level, no statistically significant changes were observed between 2019 and 2021.

However, there were some significant differences apparent when assessing long-term trends in the gaps between different demographic groups; for example, between male and female students, where the gap between the groups is widening when compared against 2016.

“The national report analysis shows that female students continue to outperform male students in reading and writing while males are outperforming females in numeracy, except in Year 9 where the gap is stable,” said ACARA CEO, David de Carvalho.

“In the secondary classroom, we can see that the gap between boys and girls is widening for reading but stable for writing, and the gender gap is larger in secondary schools than in primary schools for writing.

“Compared with the base year, 2008 (2011 for writing), Years 3 and 5 reading, Year 5 numeracy, and Years 3 and 5 spelling have significantly improved nationally, showing gains equivalent to a term’s worth of learning since the base year but these improvements were not reflected in every demographic group.

“We can now also see that the main group of students who fell behind the national average in Years 7 and 9 reading and Years 3 and 7 numeracy, compared to the base year, were students whose parents did not complete Year 12,” he said.

The full report is published on the National Assessment Program website: https://nap.edu.au/results-and-reports/national-reports

APC analysis of the NAPLAN report

There are few points to take note of in this report that APC believes are of particular interest to parents:

1. Although there is no statistically significant evidence of a drop in student results since 2019, the impact of COVID measures and school closures may take time to show. It will be interesting to see the impact on Year 3 students next year, as they have experienced significant disruption early on in their education journey when they are establishing their literacy and numeracy skills. In short, the full impact of COVID may take time to show in national assessments. It is still early days.
2.  The results at a national and state or territory level may mask loss of learning in vulnerable students at a local level. In its report ACARA notes: ‘While there are indications that the gap between high and low socio-educational groups widened between 2019 and 2021, further analysis is being conducted to determine whether this can be attributed to the pandemic or whether it is part of a longer-term national trend unrelated to COVID.
3.  Results for students whose parents did not complete Year 12, in Years 5 and 9 in Queensland and Year 7 in Tasmania, showed a decline in numeracy. In addition, Year 9 students from the Northern Territory with at least one parent in the highest occupation groups declined in reading, numeracy and writing achievement. This shows that there is a ‘parent effect’ at work, and therefore evidence to support the need for parents to be better engaged by schools so they can better support their child. APC has and will continue to advocate for parents to be supported and better engaged by schools to ensure children get the most out of their education.

ACHIEVEMENT TRENDS 2016–2021

Female and male students

• Female students outperformed male students in reading and writing, and male students outperformed female students in numeracy.
• Over the last 6 years, the gap in numeracy is generally widening, except in Year 9 where the gap is stable.
• For primary school students, the gap is stable for reading but narrowing for writing.
• For secondary school students, the gap is widening for reading but stable for writing.
• In addition, the gender gap is larger in secondary schools than primary schools for writing.

Indigenous

• The difference in achievement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students is large with no noticeable closing or widening of the gap between 2016 and 2021.

Major cities and regional areas

• Students from major cities outperformed students from regional areas in numeracy, reading and writing. The gap in numeracy and reading has gradually widened between 2016 and 2021 for most year levels.

Regional and remote

• Numeracy, reading and writing achievement by students from regional areas (inner and outer regional) was significantly higher than achievement by students from remote and very remote areas. The gap in achievement between regional and remote areas has remained steady over the past 5 years.