Learning growth
How quickly a student’s learning is progressing through their school years is an important measure for evaluating educational outcomes.
Learning gain - Literacy years 3-5
This measure shows the extent of student learning growth in reading between years 3-5. It does this by looking at how much knowledge students have gained between NAPLAN tests taken two years apart.
Keeping track of how much progress students are making is useful. It helps us to see where students are doing well and where they may need more support.
This matters for wellbeing, because how students progress through school can influence their abilities and opportunities in the future as well as how they feel about their quality of life.
Differences in learning growth for a group of students who were in year 3 in 2019 and for the same students in year 5 in 2021 are consistent with results over time.
Results for the ACT have been consistent and are similar to the rest of Australia.
Because of COVID-19, NAPLAN did not take place in 2020. There are no results for students in 2018-20 or 2020-22.
This measure will update after the release of NAPLAN 2025 data.
Data source
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) national reports.
Chart description
Line graph of literacy learning gain between school years 3 and 5 in the ACT, by year from 2016 to 2021. In 2021, the score was 78.2 points compared to 73.8 points in 2019.
Technical notes
This measure shows the difference in the mean scores of NAPLAN cycles two years apart for the same group of students from years 3 to 5 for reading. The difference between the mean scores for the same students between these two points in time is expressed in NAPLAN points, so a larger number reflects greater learning growth. This number can be compared with the learning growth for the whole of Australia.
The goal of the ACT Government is to increase learning growth over time.
ACT student learning gain has been consistent over time. The variations in gain over time in the ACT reflect the national patterns. The scaling processes used in the NAPLAN tests create small, nonsignificant, measurement uncertainty in national and in jurisdiction gain data over time.
There were no results for 2018-20 and 2020-22, with NAPLAN not being conducted in 2020 due to the impacts of COVID-19.
Reporting of gain data will be in abeyance until after the release of NAPLAN 2025 data. At the time of writing this report, NAPLAN 2023 data is in the process of being put onto a new scale and the 2023 data will not be comparable to previous NAPLAN data, resulting in a time series disruption. ACARA has indicated that reporting of student gain will not be possible until 2025, two years after the time series is restarted, i.e. after students completing NAPLAN on the new scale in 2023 receive their next NAPLAN results in 2025.
Learning gain - Literacy years 7-9
This measure shows the extent of student learning growth in reading between years 7-9. It does this by looking at how much knowledge students have gained between NAPLAN tests taken two years apart.
Keeping track of how much progress students are making is useful. It helps us to see where students are doing well and where they may need more support.
This matters for wellbeing, because how students progress through school can influence their abilities and opportunities in the future as well as how they feel about their quality of life.
Differences in learning growth for a group of students who were in year 7 in 2019 and for the same students in year 9 in 2021 are consistent with results over time.
Results for the ACT have been consistent and are similar to the rest of Australia.
Because of COVID-19, NAPLAN did not take place in 2020. There are no results for students in 2018-20 or 2020-22.
This measure will update after the release of NAPLAN 2025 data.
Data source
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) national reports.
Chart description
Line graph of literacy learning gain between school years 7 and 9 in the ACT, by year from 2016 to 2021. In 2021, the score was 33.2 points compared to 32.8 points in 2019.
Technical notes
This measure shows the difference in the mean scores of NAPLAN cycles two years apart for the same group of students from years 7 to 9 for reading. The difference between the mean scores for the same students between these two points in time is expressed in NAPLAN points, so a larger number reflects greater learning growth. This number can be compared with the learning growth for the whole of Australia.
The goal of the ACT Government is to increase learning growth over time.
ACT student learning gain has been consistent over time. The variations in gain over time in the ACT reflect the national patterns. The scaling processes used in the NAPLAN tests create small, nonsignificant, measurement uncertainty in national and in jurisdiction gain data over time.
There were no results for 2018-20 and 2020-22, with NAPLAN not being conducted in 2020 due to the impacts of COVID-19.
Reporting of gain data will be in abeyance until after the release of NAPLAN 2025 data. At the time of writing this report, NAPLAN 2023 data is in the process of being put onto a new scale and the 2023 data will not be comparable to previous NAPLAN data, resulting in a time series disruption. ACARA has indicated that reporting of student gain will not be possible until 2025, two years after the time series is restarted, i.e. after students completing NAPLAN on the new scale in 2023 receive their next NAPLAN results in 2025.
Learning gain - Numeracy years 3-5
This measure shows the extent of student learning growth in numeracy between years 3 - 5. It does this by looking at how much knowledge students have gained between NAPLAN tests taken two years apart.
Keeping track of how much progress students are making is useful. It helps us to see where students are doing well and where they may need more support.
This matters for wellbeing, because how students progress through school can influence their abilities and opportunities in the future as well as how they feel about their quality of life.
Differences in learning growth for a group of students who were in year 3 in 2019 and for the same students in year 5 in 2021 are consistent with results over time.
Results for the ACT have been consistent and are similar to the rest of Australia.
Because of COVID-19, NAPLAN did not take place in 2020. There are no results for students in 2018-20 or 2020-22.
This measure will update after the release of NAPLAN 2025 data.
Data source
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) National Reports.
Chart description
Line graph of numeracy learning gain between school years 3 and 5 in the ACT, by year from 2016 to 2021. In 2021, the score was 81.3 points compared to 79 points in 2019.
Technical notes
NAPLAN is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. ACT results are included in the NAPLAN National Report.
Students generally experience a higher gain in their early years of schooling as they develop a foundation and understanding of new concepts in numeracy and literacy.
This is reflected nationally with about double the gain for years 3 to 5 student results compared with the gain for years 7 to 9 student results.
This measure shows the difference in the mean scores of NAPLAN cycles two years apart for the same group of students from years 3 to 5 for numeracy. The difference between the mean scores for the same students between these two points in time is expressed in NAPLAN points, so a larger number reflects greater learning growth.
This number can be compared with the learning growth for the whole of Australia.
The goal of the ACT Government is to increase learning growth over time.
ACT student learning gain has been consistent over time. The variations in gain over time in the ACT reflect the national patterns. The scaling processes used in the NAPLAN tests create small, nonsignificant, measurement uncertainty in national and in jurisdiction gain data over time.
There were no results for 2018-20 and 2020-22, with NAPLAN not being conducted in 2020 due to the impacts of COVID-19.
Reporting of gain data will be in abeyance until after the release of NAPLAN 2025 data. At the time of writing this report, NAPLAN 2023 data is in the process of being put onto a new scale and the 2023 data will not be comparable to previous NAPLAN data, resulting in a time series disruption.
ACARA has indicated that reporting of student gain will not be possible until 2025, two years after the time series is restarted, i.e. after students completing NAPLAN on the new scale in 2023 receive their next NAPLAN results in 2025.
Learning gain - Numeracy years 7-9
This measure shows the extent of student learning growth in numeracy between years 7 - 9. It does this by looking at how much knowledge students have gained between NAPLAN tests taken two years apart.
Keeping track of how much progress students are making is useful. It helps us to see where students are doing well and where they may need more support.
This matters for wellbeing, because how students progress through school can influence their abilities and opportunities in the future as well as how they feel about their quality of life.
Differences in learning growth for a group of students who were in year 7 in 2019 and for the same students in year 9 in 2021 are consistent with results over time.
Results for the ACT have been consistent and are similar to the rest of Australia.
Because of COVID-19, NAPLAN did not take place in 2020. There are no results for students in 2018-20 or 2020-22.
This measure will update after the release of NAPLAN 2025 data.
Data source
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) national reports.
Chart description
Line graph of numeracy learning gain between school years 7 and 9 in the ACT, by year from 2016 to 2021. In 2021 the score was 32.5 points compared to 37.8 points in 2019.
Technical notes
NAPLAN is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. ACT results are included in the NAPLAN National Report.
Students generally experience a higher gain in their early years of schooling as they develop a foundation and understanding of new concepts in numeracy and literacy.
This is reflected nationally with about double the gain for years 3 to 5 student results compared with the gain for years 7 to 9 student results.
This measure shows the difference in the mean scores of NAPLAN cycles two years apart for the same group of students from years 7 to 9 for numeracy. The difference between the mean scores for the same students between these two points in time is expressed in NAPLAN points, so a larger number reflects greater learning growth. This number can be compared with the learning growth for the whole of Australia.
Reporting of gain data will be in abeyance until after the release of NAPLAN 2025 data.
At the time of writing this report, NAPLAN 2023 data is in the process of being put onto a new scale and the 2023 data will not be comparable to previous NAPLAN data, resulting in a time series disruption.
ACARA has indicated that reporting of student gain will not be possible until 2025, two years after the time series is restarted, i.e. after students completing NAPLAN on the new scale in 2023 receive their next NAPLAN results in 2025.
