For the first time since NAPLAN testing began, South Australia has improved or held its position in every domain compared with the rest of the country.

South Australia climbed the national rankings in nine of the test areas – including all numeracy assessments – and remained steady in the remaining domains. Nine was more than any other state and territory and we were the only jurisdiction that did not go back in any areas.

NAPLAN testing took place in March this year, with more than 80,300 students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 assessed on reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy.

With the new proficiency levels introduced in 2023, this year's NAPLAN results can be directly compared with results from 2023 and 2024, with four levels of proficiency – ‘exceeding’, ‘strong’, ‘developing’ or ‘needs additional support’.

The introduction of the maths improvement strategy in SA – including updating the curriculum, bringing in numeracy checks and starting an annual Numeracy Summit – has led to an overall increase in numeracy results with a higher proportion of students with ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding proficiency’ since 2023.

Flagstaff Hill Primary School Principal Donella Munro said, while the NAPLAN results are just one tool we use to track how our students are going, I believe our school’s positive outcomes – particularly reflecting each student’s learning journey over the last two years – shows we’re on the right track.

“At Flagstaff Hill Primary School, we have a strong focus on reading, which is reflected in both our NAPLAN results and our excellent phonics results”.

“That explicit, evidence-based teaching then underpins our student’s numeracy testing, by supporting their ability to read and comprehend the test itself”.

“We also have an emphasis on supporting our neurodivergent learners to ensure the best learning outcomes for all our students – and it’s nice to see that the work we are doing is having a positive impact”, said Ms Munro.

Comparison of year 3 students’ results from 2023 with the data from this year provide an indication of the progress students have made during their primary education, including:

• In 2023, 64.4% of year 3 students were ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding’ in reading, whereas in 2025, 69.6% of year 5 students are in those categories.
• In 2023, 59.1% of year 3 students were ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding’ in numeracy, whereas in 2025, it was 64.7% of the year 5 cohort.
• In 2023, 48.7% of year 3 students were ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding’ in grammar and punctuation, whereas in 2025, 57.9% of year 5 students are in those categories.
• In 2023, 60.5% of year 3 students were ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding’ in spelling and, in 2025, 67.5% of year 5 students are in those categories.

Writing was the only category which saw a reduction in the ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding’ categories between the students who tested in 2023 as year 3 students and year 5 students in 2025 – a drop reflected in all jurisdictions.

The results, released by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) on Wednesday 30 July reflect statewide data with individual school results to come later in the year.

Parents and carers of students who took part in this year’s NAPLAN assessment have been provided with individual student reports of their child’s results. Along with other school assessment reports, they can use these individual reports to discuss their child’s progress with their teacher.

Read more about NAPLAN results.