NAPLAN 2020

Education ministers made the decision to cancel NAPLAN in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This means the current Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will not undertake the assessment this year. Those in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in 2021 will sit the NAPLAN assessments.  Any change to this and to the year levels that participate in the annual NAPLAN assessments would need to be agreed by all education ministers.

NAPLAN is cancelled for 2020 and as such, the assessments will not be running in any form, in schools or at home. The decision was taken to assist school leaders, teachers and support staff to focus on the wellbeing of students and continuity of education. However, previous years’ test papers are available on the ACARA website, and there is the NAPLAN Online public demonstration site for parents and children if they wish to use them as an activity while at home.

There are comprehensive NAPLAN test administration and security procedures that need to be followed for NAPLAN assessments, and the tests are overseen by teachers to ensure results are credible. It is not practical to administer a secure test in a home environment.

Previous years’ test papers are available on the ACARA website, and there is the NAPLAN Online public demonstration site for parents and children if they wish to use them as an activity while at home.

NAPLAN is cancelled for 2020 and the assessments will not be done in any schools this year. The decision was taken to assist school leaders, teachers and support staff to focus on the wellbeing of students and continuity of education.

The use of NAPLAN data for other purposes, such as linking it to the WACE requirements, is subject to the decisions of local education authorities.

We are aware that some schools may ask for NAPLAN reports in addition to school reports as part of their admissions process. NAPLAN assessments are not designed to be a school admission test.

No child will have a NAPLAN result for 2020. NAPLAN results can assist teachers by providing additional information to support their professional judgement about students’ levels of literacy and numeracy attainment and progress. NAPLAN tests are only one aspect of each school’s assessment and reporting process, they do not replace the extensive ongoing assessments made by teachers about each student’s performance. Your child’s teacher will have the best insight into your child’s educational progress.

ACARA has also released a range of past NAPLAN test papers. Releasing these previous test papers forms a part of our response to Freedom of Information Act requests received by ACARA. The NAPLAN tests are subject to copyright restrictions and are for personal use only.

ACARA would like to emphasise that we do not believe in the value of excessive preparation for NAPLAN beyond teaching the Australian Curriculum and familiarising students with the NAPLAN process. These tests should not be used for drilling students for future NAPLAN tests. See the ACARA website for more information about past NAPLAN test papers.