NAPLAN runs in March every year. Here is what it tests, where the confirmed 2027 dates will appear, and a preparation timeline for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 with free practice for each.
NAPLAN is held in March each year. The 2026 test window was 11 March 2026 to 23 March 2026. The 2027 dates are set by ACARA (the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority) and had not been confirmed for this page; they are published at nap.edu.au, and your school will tell you which days inside the window your child sits each test. Expect a similar mid-March window and plan backwards from the start of March.
The National Assessment Program, Literacy and Numeracy, is sat by every Australian student in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. There are four tests: Writing (a persuasive or narrative piece in response to a prompt), Reading (comprehension of a set of texts), Conventions of Language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy. Since 2023 the tests are online (except Year 3 Writing, on paper) and adaptive: the questions get harder or easier depending on how the student is going, so two children in the same room can see different questions. Results are reported in four proficiency levels, Exceeding, Strong, Developing and Needs additional support, against a standard set for each year level, and are released to schools and parents around the middle of the year.
NAPLAN does not affect a student's school grades or progression. Its value to a family is as an independent, standardised snapshot: it tells you where your child sits against the national standard, in a way a school report, which compares against the class, cannot. A "Developing" result in Year 5 Numeracy is not a crisis, but it is a signal worth acting on before the Year 7 test, when the gap will otherwise be wider.
The first NAPLAN is mostly about familiarity. Children who have never sat a timed test on a device can lose marks to the format rather than the content. From Term 4 of Year 2 and over the summer: read together daily and talk about what was read; practise writing a short story or a "should we?" opinion piece once a week; keep number facts (addition and subtraction to 20, early times tables) fluent with five minutes of games a day. In February, do two or three short practice sets on a laptop so the online format is familiar. The free Year 3 Numeracy and Reading and Language quizzes are pitched at this level.
Year 5 Numeracy is where fractions, decimals, place value beyond thousands, area and perimeter, and two-step word problems start to separate students. From Term 3 of Year 4 focus on those topics with mixed practice; in Reading practise inference ("why did the character…"), which is where most marks are lost; in Writing, build a plan-first habit: two minutes planning, twenty writing, three checking. From January, weekly practice with the free Year 5 quizzes and one full practice paper from the store in February.
The first secondary-school NAPLAN arrives six weeks into a new school, so preparation has to happen in Year 6 and over summer. Numeracy assumes secure fractions, decimals, percentages, negative numbers and simple algebra; Conventions of Language tests punctuation of complex sentences and homophones. A Year 6 student who does the free Skills Check in the Term 3 holidays has a term and a summer to fix what it flags. RHZ's Year 6 to 7 summer clinic is built around exactly this transition.
Year 9 NAPLAN is the last, and in Victoria the one most likely to be mentioned in Year 10 subject selection conversations. Numeracy covers algebra, linear graphs, ratio, indices and measurement of composite shapes; Writing expects a structured argument with evidence. Students who found Year 7 hard should start in Term 3 of Year 8; others should do a full practice paper in early February to find the two or three weak topics and spend the remaining weeks on those. Use the free Year 9 quizzes by topic.
Do not buy a stack of workbooks and work through them front to back; most of the content will be things your child can already do. Do not run daily drills for months; children disengage and the test then measures anxiety. Do not tell a Year 3 child the test matters, because for them it does not; it matters to you as information. And do not ignore the Writing test because it is hard to practise at home: one piece a week with a plan and a read-through is the single highest-return NAPLAN habit.
Our practice quiz hub has NAPLAN-framed Numeracy and Reading and Language quizzes for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, mixed and by topic, marked instantly with explanations, and free without sign-up. Printed NAPLAN-style practice papers with worked answers are in the store. The free Skills Check goes deeper than any single quiz, covers every topic for the year level including stretch questions, and comes with a tutor call to explain the report. Small-group NAPLAN tutoring at our Truganina centre and online is from $25 an hour.
In March, in a window set by ACARA. The 2026 window was 11 to 23 March. Check nap.edu.au for the confirmed 2027 dates and your school for the exact days.
Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, in Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language and Numeracy.
Yes, since 2023, except for Year 3 Writing which is on paper. The online tests are adaptive, so students see different questions depending on their answers.
Schools and parents receive individual reports around the middle of the year; ACARA announces the timing annually.
Six weeks of twenty minutes a day on the specific topics a practice test identifies is plenty. Months of general drilling is counterproductive.
Fifteen minutes online, every topic for the year level, same-day report and a tutor call to talk it through.
Thousands of free, instantly marked questions, Prep to Year 12, by year level and topic, including NAPLAN and VCE maths.
Small groups from $25 an hour, 1:1 $35 to $45, at our Truganina centre or online Australia-wide.
Call 03 9509 3293, book a free consultation, or browse printable practice papers. RHZ Tutoring, 17/47 Apex Drive, Truganina VIC 3029.