That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the relevant ministers to regulate the use of NAPLAN results for its purpose of monitoring literacy and numeracy achievement and restrict its current further use by some schools, for selective entry and enrolment screening.
Families are experiencing stress and hardship because NAPLAN test results are requested by schools as part of the school entry and enrolment process. ACARA CEO Stephen Gniel called it a horrendous misuse of NAPLAN for its results to be used for school entrance and encouraged parents not to provide it to schools that might ask for it as an entry requirement. (SMH 10/3/2026) Our remote and rural families can't compete in the competitive tutoring culture and unlike many students, a number of our students undertake this test when away from home, incurring cost and disruption.
We rely on entry to boarding schools to educate our children and some of those request NAPLAN results, when they could use other more appropriate and effective selection processes. Children understand there is a financial burden on families paying for boarding school and that doing well in NAPLAN can lighten that burden for their family, making the NAPLAN testing experience inappropriately high stakes for children. We ask that the relevant ministers support ACARA in its stance on the use of NAPLAN results and restrict their use for selective entry and enrolment screening.
