Victoria’s NAPLAN Story and the Schools Rising Above Expectations
So, let me walk you through what’s been happening around Australia’s latest NAPLAN results, because there’s quite a bit to unpack, and a lot of it paints a really interesting picture of how different schools and states are performing this year.
The 2025 NAPLAN results have officially been released, giving parents and communities another snapshot of how students across the country are doing in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. More than 300,000 Victorian students from Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sat the tests back in March, and the numbers are now out there for everyone to see. While an interactive tool was supposed to make searching school results easier, it’s currently offline, so many families are waiting for it to be restored.
Also Read:At a national level, the overall results showed almost no improvement compared with last year, and a large group of students is still struggling with the absolute basics. Almost a third of students across the key year levels are still catching up in foundational skills like reading, writing and maths. But despite that sobering picture, Victoria has emerged as a standout performer. Students in the state achieved either the best or second-best results in 18 out of the 20 NAPLAN categories. The Victorian government called it the state’s “best ever” performance, crediting ongoing reforms in explicit teaching and a more scientific approach to instruction in the classroom. Teachers were celebrated as the driving force behind the improvement, with Education Minister Ben Carroll emphasising that they remain the most powerful influence on student outcomes.
One important detail is that the school results in the guide are listed alphabetically rather than ranked, and they’re based on raw scores — nothing is adjusted for socioeconomic factors. For families wanting a fuller picture, the MySchool website now includes a progress-tracking tool, which ACARA says gives a more accurate sense of how much students at a school have grown since their previous NAPLAN assessments.
Nationally, some particularly high-achieving schools have also been recognised. In New South Wales, Carlingford West Public School was identified as one of the top overachieving schools in the country. Despite 96% of its students coming from non-English-speaking backgrounds, the school performed in the top band across Years 3 and 5 in every single domain. Teachers there say it’s the diversity that fuels the school’s success. The campus supports more than 40 languages, offers strong EAL/D programs, and runs everything from Mandarin and Hindi activities to Korean drumming. Attendance sits at an impressive 94%, well above the national rate.
Students say they love the high expectations, the strong relationships with teachers, and the sense that they’re always being encouraged — not pushed too far, but pushed just enough to grow. And for many of them, these results aren’t about prestige; they’re simply about doing the best they can and building a future they’re excited about.
So overall, this year’s NAPLAN landscape is a mix of challenge and celebration — a reminder that while there’s still work to be done nationally, pockets of extraordinary progress are happening every day in schools across the country.
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