Nearly one in three Australian students are failing to meet national literacy and numeracy benchmarks, according to 2026 NAPLAN results released on Wednesday — with more than 1.2 million children tested across the country in March showing little or no improvement on last year's figures.

The results reveal that close to 30 per cent of students were either "not achieving the learning outcomes that are expected" or "working towards expectations" across numeracy, reading, writing and spelling. The picture was bleaker in grammar, where more than 40 per cent of participants failed to reach benchmarks.

National Scores Stagnate Despite Teaching Reforms

Despite a federal push to overhaul how reading and maths are taught and assessed, this year's national results show minimal progress. Reading and writing scores fell across all year levels compared to 2025, while numeracy improved slightly for Year 5, 7 and 9 students but dipped for Year 3, which recorded a lower average numeracy score than in all four comparable prior years.

In reading, the proportion of students receiving the lowest rating — "Needs additional support" — rose to 10.2 per cent, up from 9.3 per cent in 2025.

An education researcher at the Centre for Independent Studies described NAPLAN as a "health check" for the education system, cautioning that longer-term data offers the clearest picture of performance trends. "It is important to be vigilant when there is a bit of a negative trend," she said.

Victoria Outperforms the Nation for Second Consecutive Year

One of the standout findings in this year's data is Victoria's continued dominance. Victorian students scored above the national average across every discipline for the second year running, and outperformed students in every other state in both writing and numeracy.

The researcher pointed to a structural advantage: unlike other states, Victoria has no remote or very remote communities — populations that consistently record lower academic outcomes. "Victoria has something that other states don't have," she noted, describing it as a "geographical advantage."

The gap between remote and metropolitan students remains stark. In reading, just 23.1 per cent of students from very remote schools were rated "strong" or "exceeding", compared with 70 per cent of students from major city schools. The numeracy divide was similarly pronounced — 23.1 per cent of very remote students reached the top two categories, against 70.8 per cent for city students.

Gender and Socio-Educational Gaps Persist

This year's data also highlights consistent performance gaps along gender and socio-educational lines. Female students outperformed male students in writing across every year group, while male students generally recorded higher numeracy scores than their female peers.

Higher NAPLAN results continued to align closely with students from the most advantaged socio-educational backgrounds, reinforcing a well-established pattern in Australian schooling.

A Bright Spot: Sunshine Primary's Phonics Success

Amid the broader challenges, Melbourne's Sunshine Primary School has emerged as a local success story, recording notable improvements in Year 5 reading and numeracy. The school's principal credited the early adoption of phonics-based teaching — introduced in 2019 before it became mandatory in Victoria — as a key driver of improved reading results.

"We've got the proof in the pudding that we're on the right track and doing the right things," the principal said, also highlighting the role of dedicated and collaborative teaching staff.

Testing Disruptions Affected Participation

Overall participation in 2026 NAPLAN was slightly lower than in 2025, partly due to teacher industrial action in Tasmania over wages and conditions, and flooding disruptions in the Northern Territory. Further complications arose when the online testing platform crashed on the first day of exams, forcing some Year 5, 7 and 9 students to resit their writing tests.

The Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority, which administers the tests, confirmed those affected students did not receive mark adjustments, but their results were accompanied by a notation explaining the circumstances of the disruption.