The 2024 NAPLAN National Report has been released today, with the NSW Government noting there are some positive signs, but more work to be done to raise education outcomes across the state.

Almost 400,000 primary and high school students, across more than 3000 public, independent and Catholic schools sat their NAPLAN tests in March of this year.

Results for NSW have remained stable, with some promising results, including:

• 81% of Year 3 students in NSW recorded Strong or Exceeding results in writing.
• 70% of Year 5 and 7 students in NSW achieved Strong or Exceeding in numeracy.
• 57% of Year 9 students in NSW achieved Strong or Exceeding in grammar and punctuation.

While nationally, NSW has ranked first or equal first in most test subjects and year levels, the need for continued work is highlighted by the fact that NSW is ranked third for Year 3 and Year 5 in reading.

The NSW Government is continuing work to rebuild the public education system and improve education outcomes across the state.

The most important tool in achieving this is ensuring there is a teacher at the front of every classroom in NSW. The government’s work to address the chronic teacher shortage created by the former government has seen a 20 per cent drop in the number of public school teacher vacancies this year.

This work has included:

• Scrapping the former government’s public sector wage cap and delivering NSW public school teachers the biggest pay rise in a generation.
• Improving job security by exceeding the government’s commitment to transition 16,000 teachers and support staff on temporary contracts into permanent roles.
• Improving the classroom environment by banning mobile phones and restoring authority to teachers and principals to manage student behaviour.

The NSW Government and NSW Department of Education will analyse the NAPLAN results from both 2023 and 2024 to determine system-wide targets for improvement in literacy and numeracy which will be released later this year, for implementation in 2025.

The full 2024 NAPLAN national results are published on ACARA’s website: https://www.nap.edu.au/

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:

“Congratulations to the students across New South Wales who sat their NAPLAN exams this year.

“These results show that NSW students overall are doing well, but there are gaps that need our attention.

“The Minns Labor Government has already begun rebuilding public education but we recognise that there is still much more to do.

“While there are some positive signs in these results, we cannot afford to take our eye off the ball.

“The impact of the chronic teacher shortage created by the former Liberal National Government cannot be undone overnight, but we will continue to build on the early successes we have had in boosting the number of teachers in our classrooms, which will ultimately drive better learning outcomes.”