Victorian students are overall leading the nation in many NAPLAN results, but poor numeracy and a shift to phonics-based teaching signals work needed ahead.
Victorian students have again achieved outstanding NAPLAN results – leading the nation and recording improvements across a range of metrics.
Despite Victoria’s strong results, there is always room for improvement – the introduction of the mandatory use of phonics in primary school from 2025 will further reduce the number of students who struggle with reading.
The 2024 national data shows Victorian students are leading the nation on a range of metrics, particularly in the primary years. While Victorian primary students lead the nation in numeracy, Years 7 and 9 students placed third – with the state government investing more than $20 million to upskill maths teachers so they can become specialists and ensure students are learning from the best in the field.
The NAPLAN results showed one in three students nationally are failing to meet literacy and numeracy standards.
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Victorian Year 3 students continue to lead the nation in both reading and numeracy, the most important foundational skills. This is the third consecutive year this has been achieved.
Victoria achieved the first or second highest scores of all jurisdictions in 7 out of 8 measures in reading and writing and achieved the top results in the country for writing in Years 5, 7 and 9.
Victorian primary school students continue to produce the best results in the country, ranking first or second in eight out of 10 domains – more than any other state or territory.
Victorian students in Years 3, 7, and 9 improved their 2023 reading results, reversing the national trend, which saw the average score for reading decline in Years 3, 5, and 7 and improve only in Year 9.
Victoria’s reading performance improved overall in 2024, with 5000 more students reaching the ‘exceeding’ proficiency level for reading across all year levels compared to 2023.
This year, Victoria’s NAPLAN participation rate was the highest it has been since the first year of testing in 2008. More than 95 per cent of students in Years 3, 5 and 7 sat the reading test, and more than 91 per cent sat the Year 9 reading test. In total, 311,000 Victorian students participated across Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in 2024.
The government delivered $3.1 billion in this year’s budget to continue building the Education State – delivering classrooms, teachers and more individual support, with free TAFE courses at record highs.
“Victoria’s NAPLAN results are no accident – they are the product of our record investment in schools and the efforts of our dedicated kids, teachers, principals, parents and carers,” education minister Ben Carroll said.
“This year, we had the highest NAPLAN participation rates in 16 years – a testament to the hard work of Victorian school leaders in improving the engagement of our students in their learning.”
Check out the NAPLAN results here.
