NAPLAN test window

The NAPLAN test window is 9 days.

Schools may schedule catch-up tests later in the test window for students who are absent when their class participates in the tests.

If schools have any questions when planning a test schedule specific to their needs, they should refer to the NAPLAN national protocols for test administration or contact the relevant state/territory test administration authority.

Schools are able to use the 9-day test window to schedule tests, noting the test sequence in the table below and the following:

Tests must be scheduled as soon as possible within the test window, prioritising scheduling in the morning over the afternoon.
If students do more than one test in a given day, they must be given a break of at least 20 minutes between test sessions.

Test	Scheduling requirements	Duration	Test description
Writing	Year 3 students do a paper-based writing test (on day 1 only). It is recommended that Year 3 writing tests be completed by all classes at the same time in the morning. Years 5, 7 and 9 writing must be scheduled on day 1, with day 2 only used where there are technical or logistical limitations.	Year 3: 40 minutes Year 5: 42 minutes Year 7: 42 minutes Year 9: 42 minutes	Students are provided with a ‘writing stimulus’ (sometimes called a ‘prompt’ – an idea or topic) and asked to write a response in a particular genre (narrative or persuasive writing).
Reading	To be completed after the writing test.	Year 3: 45 minutes Year 5: 50 minutes Year 7: 65 minutes Year 9: 65 minutes	Students read a range of informative, imaginative and persuasive texts and then answer related questions.
Conventions of language	To be completed after the reading test.	Year 3: 45 minutes Year 5: 45 minutes Year 7: 45 minutes Year 9: 45 minutes	This test assesses spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Numeracy	To be completed after the conventions of language test.	Year 3: 45 minutes Year 5: 50 minutes Year 7: 65 minutes Year 9: 65 minutes	This test assesses number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability.