NAPLAN 2026: Complete Guide for Teachers & Parents

NAPLAN 2026: What Teachers and Parents Need to Know

NAPLAN (National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy) is Australia's annual standardised assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9. In 2026, the NAPLAN test window runs from Wednesday 11 March to Monday 23 March.

Since 2023, NAPLAN is conducted online using the NAPLAN Online platform. For the writing test, Year 3 students may handwrite their response, which is then scanned. All other tests are completed on a computer or device. The platform uses adaptive testing, which adjusts question difficulty based on how each student responds. This means every student gets a tailored experience that more accurately reflects their ability level.

NAPLAN is not a pass/fail test. It's a point-in-time snapshot of how students are progressing in literacy and numeracy against national standards. For teachers, it provides data to inform instruction. For parents, it shows how your child is tracking alongside their peers across Australia.

This guide covers everything you need to know about NAPLAN 2026 — test dates, what's assessed, how to prepare students, and how to understand the results.

Test Window: 11–23 March 2026

The NAPLAN 2026 test window runs over two weeks, from Wednesday 11 March to Monday 23 March 2026. Schools schedule their own testing sessions within this window, so the exact days your students sit each test will vary by school.

Each year level sits four separate tests across the window:

Key Dates to Remember

• Test window: 11–23 March 2026
• Catch-up sessions: Schools may schedule catch-up sessions within the test window for students who were absent
• Results released: Typically late July to August 2026 (individual student reports are sent to schools and then to parents)

For the latest confirmed dates, check the NAP website.

NAPLAN assesses students across four domains. Understanding what each domain covers helps teachers target preparation and helps parents understand what their child's results mean.

1. Reading

The reading test presents students with a range of text types — narrative, informative, and persuasive — and asks comprehension questions. Students must demonstrate literal comprehension (finding information stated in the text), inference (reading between the lines), interpretation, and critical analysis.

Texts increase in complexity from Year 3 to Year 5. Year 3 students read shorter, simpler passages, while Year 5 students encounter longer texts with more sophisticated vocabulary and structure.

2. Writing

Students respond to a writing prompt under timed conditions. The writing task may be persuasive or narrative — ACARA does not announce the genre in advance, so students should be prepared for both.

• Year 3: 40 minutes to write their response (may be handwritten)
• Year 5: 42 minutes to write their response

The writing is assessed against criteria including audience awareness, text structure, ideas, vocabulary, cohesion, paragraphing, sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling. Teaching students to spend 3–5 minutes planning before they write makes a significant difference.

For teaching strategies across both genres, see our Persuasive Writing and Narrative Writing pages.

3. Conventions of Language

This domain tests spelling, grammar, and punctuation through multiple-choice and short-response questions. Students identify correct spellings, fix grammatical errors, select appropriate punctuation, and demonstrate understanding of language rules in context.

This is often the domain where students perform most consistently, because the skills are practised daily in most classrooms. Focus on areas students commonly struggle with: homophones, apostrophes, subject-verb agreement, and comma usage.

4. Numeracy

The numeracy test covers number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability. Questions range from straightforward calculations to multi-step problems requiring reasoning and problem-solving.

Year 5 students have some questions where a calculator is available (on-screen) and some that are non-calculator. Year 3 numeracy is entirely non-calculator.

How Adaptive Testing Works

NAPLAN Online uses a testlet-based adaptive format. Instead of every student answering the same questions, the test adjusts:

1. Students start with a common set of questions
2. Based on their responses, the platform selects the next set of questions (testlet) that best matches their ability level
3. Students who answer well receive more challenging questions; students who struggle receive more accessible questions
4. The final result accounts for the difficulty of questions answered — getting harder questions right and easier questions wrong are weighted accordingly

This means two students in the same class may see different questions, which is normal. The adaptive format provides a more accurate picture of each student's ability than a fixed test where high-performing students might find every question easy and struggling students might find every question too hard.

Teach the Curriculum, Not the Test

The single most effective NAPLAN preparation is strong, consistent teaching of the Australian Curriculum throughout the year. Students who have solid reading comprehension, writing skills, language knowledge, and mathematical understanding will perform well on NAPLAN without weeks of specific test prep.

NAPLAN is designed to assess skills students should already be developing. If your classroom program covers the curriculum well, your students are being prepared every day.

Familiarise Students with the Online Platform

Since NAPLAN is conducted online, it's worth ensuring students are comfortable with:

• Typing their writing response on a keyboard (Year 3 students may handwrite, but building typing skills is still valuable)
• Navigating between questions using on-screen buttons
• Using the on-screen tools (highlighter, calculator for Year 5 numeracy, ruler)
• Reading longer texts on a screen

The NAPLAN Online public demonstration site lets students try practice questions in the actual test interface. Even one or two sessions with this can significantly reduce anxiety.

Prepare for Both Writing Genres

ACARA does not announce the writing genre in advance, so students should be prepared for both persuasive and narrative writing:

For persuasive writing:

• Stating a clear opinion in their introduction
• Supporting their position with 2–3 developed arguments (Year 3) or 3–4 arguments (Year 5)
• Using persuasive language features: emotive language, rhetorical questions, modal verbs
• Writing a conclusion that restates their position

For narrative writing:

• Creating an engaging orientation (setting, characters, situation)
• Building a complication or problem that drives the story
• Using descriptive language, dialogue, and varied sentence structures
• Resolving the narrative with a satisfying ending

Regardless of genre, teach students to spend 3–5 minutes planning their response before writing.

See our Persuasive Writing and Narrative Writing pages for detailed teaching strategies and topic ideas.

Use Practice Tests Strategically

A few well-timed practice sessions in the 2–4 weeks before NAPLAN help students understand the format and build confidence. Avoid weeks of repetitive drilling — research consistently shows this increases anxiety and has minimal impact on results.

Quality practice means:

• One or two full practice tests to build familiarity
• Targeted skill-building in identified weak areas (e.g., inference in reading, paragraph structure in writing)
• Teaching test-taking strategies: reading questions carefully, eliminating obviously wrong answers, managing time, flagging and returning to difficult questions

Browse our NAPLAN Practice Resources for teacher-created practice materials.

Reduce Test Anxiety

Frame NAPLAN as a chance for students to show what they already know — not a high-stakes exam. Key strategies:

• Avoid language that creates pressure ("this is really important", "you need to do your best")
• Normalise the experience by practising with similar formats in low-pressure settings
• Teach practical strategies: if a question is too hard, skip it and come back later
• Remind students that NAPLAN is not a pass/fail test — it's one snapshot of their learning

Build Reading Comprehension Year-Round

Reading is the domain that underpins all others — strong readers tend to perform well across every NAPLAN test, including numeracy (which requires reading and interpreting word problems).

Throughout the year:

• Read a wide range of text types — fiction, non-fiction, poetry, persuasive texts
• Explicitly teach comprehension strategies: predicting, questioning, clarifying, summarising, inferring
• Practise answering questions that require evidence from the text

See our Reading Comprehension Activities for classroom-ready resources.

New Proficiency Standards (Since 2023)

In 2023, NAPLAN replaced the old "band" system with four proficiency levels that give clearer information about student achievement:

What Changed from the Old Bands?

The old system used numbered bands (e.g., Band 1–6 for Year 3, Band 3–8 for Year 5), which were confusing because the band numbers meant different things at different year levels. The new proficiency levels are consistent — "Strong" means the same thing in Year 3, Year 5, Year 7, and Year 9.

The new system also sets a clearer benchmark. Previously, the "national minimum standard" was set quite low, and many students who technically met it were still struggling. The "Strong" proficiency level is a more honest and useful standard.

When Are Results Released?

NAPLAN results are typically released in late July to August. Here's the process:

1. Preliminary data goes to schools and education departments first
2. Individual student reports are then sent to schools, which distribute them to parents
3. The exact timing varies by state — your school will notify you when reports are available

Each student receives an Individual Student Report showing:

• Their proficiency level in each domain (Reading, Writing, Conventions of Language, Numeracy)
• Where they sit on the NAPLAN assessment scale
• How they compare to the national average for their year level
• Their growth since their last NAPLAN assessment (for Year 5 students who also sat NAPLAN in Year 3)

Before NAPLAN

• Don't stress your child. NAPLAN is one assessment on a few days of the year. It doesn't define your child's intelligence or potential. The best thing you can do is keep things normal at home — good sleep, breakfast, and a calm morning routine.
• Encourage reading. The most effective home preparation for NAPLAN is regular reading. Read together, talk about books, ask your child questions about what they've read.
• Practise typing. NAPLAN writing is typed online (Year 3 students may handwrite, but building typing skills is still valuable). It helps if your child can type at a reasonable speed. A few sessions of typing practice in the weeks before NAPLAN can make a difference. Free typing programs like Typing.com are a good starting point.
• Don't buy expensive tutoring packages marketed as "NAPLAN preparation." The evidence is clear — weeks of intensive test drilling doesn't significantly improve results and can increase anxiety.

Understanding Your Child's Results

When you receive your child's Individual Student Report:

• Look at the proficiency level first. "Strong" means your child is on track — this is where most students should be. "Exceeding" means they're above expectations.
• "Developing" isn't a fail. It means your child is making progress but hasn't yet reached the expected level. Talk to the teacher about what support might help.
• "Needs Additional Support" is a signal, not a label. If your child is at this level, the school should be working with you on a plan to help. Ask for a meeting with the classroom teacher.
• Look for patterns across domains. If your child is "Strong" in everything except writing, that gives you a clear area to focus on with the teacher.
• Compare across years if possible. For Year 5 students, the report shows growth since Year 3. Growth matters more than a single year's result.

What to Do If Your Child Needs Support

1. Talk to the classroom teacher first. They know your child's daily work and can give context the NAPLAN result alone can't.
2. Ask for specific strategies. "What can we do at home to support reading comprehension?" is more useful than "How do we improve the NAPLAN score?"
3. Focus on the skill, not the test. If your child scored "Developing" in numeracy, the goal isn't to get better at NAPLAN — it's to strengthen their understanding of maths concepts.
4. Be patient. Improvement in literacy and numeracy takes time. Consistent, supported practice over months is more effective than intensive short-term drilling.

Can My Child Be Exempt from NAPLAN?

There are two types of exemptions:

• Exemption: Students with significant intellectual disabilities or functional disabilities may be exempted by the principal in consultation with parents.
• Withdrawal: Parents can withdraw their child from NAPLAN. This requires a written request to the school principal. Schools will provide a form.

If you're considering withdrawal, talk to the school first. Many parents withdraw because of anxiety, which can usually be addressed through low-pressure preparation and reassurance.