Students in the across Victoria have topped the nation in this year’s NAPLAN results – recording ongoing improvement at both primary and secondary levels as students thrive at school.
Minister for Education Natalie Hutchins said that these phenomenal results are more than statistics – they are a tribute to the extraordinary work and efforts of Victorian kids, teachers, principals, parents and carers.
“We are so proud to see such positive results, particularly among our primary years, and it is a clear indicator that we are delivering nation-leading education to a generation of Victorian students in the Education State,” she said.
Victoria is ranked first or second in 16 of the 20 NAPLAN 2023 domains – one of the state’s best-ever results, and higher than any other state or territory in the nation.
Our young students at primary school levels lead the state’s stellar results, ranking first or second in every domain in Years 3 and 5.
The early years of school are critical for establishing a strong foundation for learning – and with more than 70 per cent of Year 3 and 80 per cent of Year 5 students in the ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding proficiency’ levels for reading, Victorian students are setting themselves up for success.
Victoria also topped the nation in Year 3 reading and numeracy and retained first place in Years 5, 7 and 9 writing.
In addition to high-achieving students, these results are proof that Victorian schools are identifying and supporting students who need extra assistance throughout their schooling, with the lowest or second-lowest proportion of students needing additional support in all 20 domains.
There is always more work to do right across Australia, and the NAPLAN results point to the need to keep lifting numeracy results, as well as continuing our work to close the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students.
The Government’s support systems for disadvantaged students are producing results – compared to other states and territories, Victorian kids facing disadvantage have achieved higher results in all of the primary school NAPLAN domains.
This year was the first time NAPLAN has been sat with changes agreed by all Australian education ministers to make reporting easier for schools and parents to understand, and ensure teachers have more time to implement any support NAPLAN identifies that students might need.
The tests are now sat in March rather than May, so results – and extra assistance for students – can be delivered earlier in the year.
“Since individual results were released a month ago, schools have been working on targeted learning support for those students who need additional support – and on extending the talents and skills of our highest achievers,” Ms Hutchins said.
NAPLAN is now also sat online to allow for more nuanced testing than paper tests, and the results structure has changed to represent student achievement against a reasonable expectation of their year level.
Individual school results will follow later in the year.
