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Year 3 NAPLAN language conventions practice test

A free Year 3 NAPLAN language conventions practice test: 27 spelling, grammar and punctuation questions, spelling first as in the real test. It marks itself, explains every answer and prints as a paper test.

Year
Test
What to practise

A practice set

Or one area, every question in it

Want more? Australian teachers sell full NAPLAN practice packs, reading magazines and writing units for Year 3.

NAPLAN resources for Year 3

What the Year 3 language conventions practice test covers

27 questions, in two sets that fit in a lesson or as one full practice test. You can also practise one area on its own. By curriculum area:

  • Spelling (8 questions)
  • Homophones (3 questions)
  • Punctuation (4 questions)
  • Apostrophes (3 questions)
  • Grammar and tense (4 questions)
  • Word classes (3 questions)
  • Sentences and clauses (2 questions)

Two Year 3 language conventions questions

  1. The children hung ___ bags on the hooks.

    • their
    • there
    • they're

    Answer: their. Their means belonging to them.

  2. Which sentence uses commas correctly?

    • We packed apples bread, cheese, and, juice.
    • We packed apples, bread, cheese and juice.
    • We packed, apples bread cheese and juice.
    • We, packed apples bread cheese and juice.

    Answer: We packed apples, bread, cheese and juice. Commas separate the items in a list. The last two items are joined by and.

How it compares with the real test

The real Year 3 language conventions test runs for 45 minutes, online, one question at a time, with a flag for questions to come back to. This practice test is set out the same way, with the same kinds of question: multiple choice, select all, putting things in order, typed answers and choosing the word for a gap. The real test also adapts to the student, which a practice set cannot, so read the score as what to work on, not as a proficiency level.

Year 3 NAPLAN past papers

The real Year 3 papers that ACARA has released are the paper tests from 2012 to 2016 and 2008 to 2011, free with answers on its website. Nothing has been released since 2016, so there is no Year 3 past paper from the online test. What is in those papers, how today’s test differs and how I would use them is on the NAPLAN past papers page.

More Year 3 NAPLAN practice

Getting ready for NAPLAN 2027

NAPLAN 2027 runs from Wednesday 10 March to Monday 22 March 2027. The dates and what is new are in my NAPLAN 2027 guide, ideas for the weeks before are in NAPLAN practice resources, and what the report means is in understanding NAPLAN results.

Questions about Year 3 NAPLAN

How long is the Year 3 NAPLAN language conventions test?

45 minutes in the real test. Here, a set of about 14 questions fits in a lesson, and the full practice test has all 27.

Can I print the Year 3 language conventions practice test?

Yes. Choose a set and press Print as a paper test. The PDF has the questions set out for paper and an answer key on its own page.

Are there Year 3 NAPLAN language conventions past papers?

ACARA has released the real Year 3 NAPLAN papers from 2008 to 2016, with answers, on acara.edu.au. It has not released any test since 2016, so there are no Year 3 past papers from the online test. Those papers were sat on paper and the test is now online, so use them for the questions and something like these practice tests for the format.