CANBERRA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- One third of Australian school students are failing to meet national benchmarks for numeracy and literacy, according to the latest results from annual standardized testing.
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority on Wednesday released the results from the 2026 National Assessment Program -- Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests, which are taken every year by students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 at Australian schools.
The results revealed that 33.5 percent of the 1.2 million students who took the tests in March failed to achieve expectations for their year level across reading, writing and numeracy.
The testing found that 10.2 percent of students nationally across the four year levels need additional support to reach national literacy benchmarks, up from 9.3 percent in 2025.
In numeracy, 9.6 percent of students were graded as needing additional support compared to 9.2 percent in 2025.
Students from schools in major cities were three times more likely to exceed or meet expectations in literacy and numeracy than students from very remote schools.
The proportion of students meeting reading benchmarks has declined across all four year levels since 2023.
Minister for Education Jason Clare said in a statement that the reading results show "real challenges," but hailed improved outcomes from schools using explicit teaching methods, including phonics, and small group tutoring, which give struggling students extra help. ■
